BULLETINS  OF  THE  PRESIDING 
BISHOP  AND  COUNCIL  OF  THE 
PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 


SERIES  OF  1921  BULLETIN  NO.  15 


Missionary  Problems 

and 

Policies  in  Japan 

by 

Rt.  Rev.  H.  St.  George  Tucker,  D.D. 
Bishop  of  Kyoto 


Being  the  Reinecke  Lectures  delivered  at  the 
Virginia  Theological  Seminary 
1921 


Issued  by  the 

Department  of  Missions  and  Church  Extension 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLICITY 
281  FOURTH  AVENUE 
NEW  YORK  CITY 


Bulletins,  Series  of  1921 


1.  Introductory  Bulletin.  Publicity. 

2.  Budget  for  1921.  Finance. 

3.  Diocesan  Programme  for  Religious  Education.  Religious  Education. 

4.  The  Pearl  of  the  Antilles.  Missions.  Price  5 cents. 

5.  Summer  Schools.  Religious  Education.  ( Out  of  print) 

6.  Church  School  Service  League.  Religious  Education. 

7.  In  the  Track  of  the  Trade  Winds.  Missions.  Price  5 cents. 

8.  Parochial  Missions.  Nation-Wide  Campaign. 

9.  Proposed  Continuance  of  Campaign  Work.  N.  W.  C.  ( Out  of  print) 

10.  Under  the  Southern  Cross.  Missions.  Price  5 cents. 

11.  Parish  Organization.  Nation-Wide  Campaign. 

12.  Parish  Programme  Conferences.  Nation-Wide  Campaign. 

13.  Under  Four  Flags.  Missions.  Price  5 cents. 

14.  Theological  Text-Books.  Religious  Education. 

15.  Missionary  Problems  and  Policies  in  Japan.  Missions.  Price  20c. 


Additional  copies  of  any  Bulletin  can  be 
secured  free  of  charge,  except  as  indicated, 
by  writing  to  the  proper  Department. 


PREFACE 


HE  following  lectures  were  delivered  by  Bishop  Tucker  at  the 


X University  of  Virginia  in  January,  1921.  Some  months  later, 
when  the  Bishop  was  on  the  point  of  returning  to  Japan,  a few 
Church  people  who  had  been  given  the  opportunity  to  read  the 
manuscript,  believing  the  lectures  to  be  of  great  and  permanent 
value,  asked  the  privilege  of  arranging  for  their  publication.  There 
was  no  time  for  revision  and  the  lectures  are,  therefore,  printed 
exactly  as  delivered. 

It  should  be  understood  that,  according  to  the  intention  of  their 
author,  these  lectures  are  in  no  sense  a justification  of  the  need  and 
importance  of  Christian  work  in  Japan.  It  is  assumed  that  those 
who  read  them  are  already  convinced  on  this  point  and  understand 
the  significance  of  the  Church’s  Mission  and  the  responsibility  of  its 
maintenance.  The  one  purpose  is  to  present  the  problems  of  the 
existing  work  and  the  spirit  and  method  by  which  alone  they  can  be 
successfully  solved. 

Bishop  Tucker’s  whole  ministry  has  been  spent  in  the  Japan 
Mission.  He  was  President  of  St.  Paul’s  College,  Tokyo,  for  nine 
years,  and  has  been  Bishop  of  Kyoto  since  1912.  His  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  people  of  Japan  and  sympathetic  understanding  of 
their  national  characteristics  and  aspirations,  his  familiarity  with 
every  phase  of  Christian  work  among  them,  his  statesmanlike  grasp 
of  the  larger  problems  of  the  Orient  and  their  relations  to  those  of 
the  Western  World,  and  above  all,  his  profound  spiritual  insight  and 
far-reaching  vision  qualify  him  to  speak  with  full  authority  and  give 
to  the  clear  and  uncompromising  statements  in  these  lectures  a force 
which  should  be  at  once  compelling  and  inspiring. 


George  A.  Strong. 


« 


MISSIONARY  PROBLEMS  AND 
POLICIES  IN  JAPAN 

LECTURE  I. 

The  Present  Problem 

THE  Japanese  have  an  ancient  saying  to  the  effect  that  he  who 
would  conquer  must  know  both  his  adversary  and  himself.  The 
time  has  come  when  we  need  to  apply  this  principle  to  our  foreign 
missionary  enterprise.  We  have,  indeed,  entered  upon  this  work  as 
a venture  of  faith,  confident  that,  however  overwhelming  the  difficul- 
ties, Christ’s  command  to  make  disciples  of  all  nations  carries  with 
it  the  assurance  of  final  success.  Yet  the  certainty  that  some  desir- 
able end  will  ultimately  be  realized  is  no  excuse  for  neglecting  the 
means  by  which  alone  it  can  be  accomplished.  Faith  in  the  supe- 
riority of  Christianity  to  all  other  religions  must  not  degenerate  into 
the  assumption  that  its  progress  is  automatic  and  exempt  from  the 
laws  upon  which  success  in  human  affairs  is  conditioned.  The  power 
of  Christianity  to  produce  results  in  the  world  is  measured,  not  only 
by  the  value  of  its  ideal,  but  also  by  the  degree  to  which  that  ideal  is 
realized  in  Christians.  Missionary  work,  then,  demands  the  same 
prudent  and  wise  consideration  that  is  requisite  to  success  in  all 
practical  undertakings.  The  nature  and  magnitude  of  the  task  must 
be  ascertained.  The  means  requisite  to  the  accomplishment  of  such 
a task  must  be  determined.  We  must  prepare  and  qualify  ourselves 
to  adopt  those  means.  “Which  of  you  intending  to  build  a tower 
sitteth  not  down  first  and  counteth  the  cost  whether  he  have  sufficient 
to  finish  it?” 

The  purpose  of  these  lectures  is  to  apply  such  considerations  to 
the  missionary  work  of  our  Church  in  Japan.  First,  we  will  con- 
sider the  nature  of  the  problems  that  confront  us.  Secondly,  the 
policy  that  must  be  pursued  on  the  field  in  the  face  of  these  problems. 
Finally,  the  demands  that  the  carrying  out  of  such  a policy  will 
make  upon  the  Church  at  home. 

To  the  Oriental,  Christianity  presented  itself  in  the  first  place  as 
the  religion  of  the  Western  nations.  The  missionary  did  not  come 
alone,  but  in  company  with  the  trader,  the  teacher  and  the  soldier. 
He  represented  one  phase  of  the  inrush  of  new  influences  and  new 

[5] 


6 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


1921 


ideas,  which  followed  the  breaking  down  of  the  barriers  that  had  so 
long  separated  the  West  from  the  East.  If  the  East  had  been 
devoid  of  a civilization  of  its  own,  or  had  its  civilization  been  so 
lacking  in  vitality  that  it  simply  crumbled  away  before  the  advancing 
tide  from  the  West,  the  problem  of  missions  would  have  been  a 
comparatively  simple  one.  Its  chief  task  wrould  have  been  to  re- 
awaken interest  in  religion,  in  the  assurance  that  any  revival  of 
faith  would  naturally  turn  to  Christianity  for  satisfaction.  For  a 
while  in  Japan  it  looked  almost  as  if  that  were  what  was  going  to 
happen.  The  first  resentment  against  intrusion  gave  way  to  such 
enthusiastic  reception  of  everything  western  that  it  appeared,  super- 
ficially at  least,  as  if  the  whole  of  the  old  civilization  would  be  dis- 
carded in  favour  of  the  new.  Even  the  historic  prejudice  of  the 
Japanese  against  Christianity  was  unable  to  withstand  the  prestige 
which  attached  to  it  as  the  religion  of  a superior  civilization.  One 
would  have  been  tempted  to  conclude  that  so  far  as  Japan  was  con- 
cerned Christianity’s  chief  foes  were  those  of  its  own  household. 
It  appeared  likely  that  the  new  influences  would  determine  the  re- 
ligious future  of  the  Empire.  The  only  question  was  as  to  whether 
the  resultant  of  those  influences  would  take  the  direction  of  Chris- 
tianity or  materialism. 

The  eclipse  of  the  ancient  order,  however,  proved  only  tempo- 
rary. It  soon  became  evident  that  the  result  of  the  contact  of  the 
two  civilizations  was  not  to  be  the  substitution  of  the  new  for  the 
old,  but  a process  of  amalgamation  between  them.  The  East  had 
indeed  much  to  learn  from  the  West.  In  so  far  as  civilization  con- 
sists in  the  application  of  ideas  to  the  production  of  practical  results, 
it  found  itself  hopelessly  outdistanced.  The  question  remained, 
however,  as  to  whether  the  superiority  extended  to  the  basic  prin- 
ciples of  the  civilization  or  whether  it  was  due  to  the  method  of 
cultivating  those  principles.  We  may  take  as  an  illustration  mili- 
tary power.  Did  the  difference  consist  in  weapons,  training  and 
organization,  or  did  it  spring  from  inferiority  in  the  military  virtues 
themselves?  The  event  soon  proved  that  the  Japanese  soldier  when 
given  modern  training  and  equipment  was  fully  able  to  hold  his 
own  against  the  armies  of  Europe.  Again  experience  has  shown 
that  many  of  the  forms  of  Western  civilization  are  not  suited  to 
Oriental  conditions.  The  tendency,  for  example,  to  adopt  Euro- 
pean dress  for  women  quickly  died  down  when  it  became  evident 
that  such  clothing  was  neither  comfortable  nor  becoming.  Illustra- 


t 


192  1 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


tions  might  be  multiplied  to  show  that,  great  as  have  been  the 
changes  which  have  been  effected  by  the  introduction  of  Western 
ideas  and  methods  into  Japan,  in  fundamentals  continuity  with  the 
past  has  been  preserved.  The  root  and  the  body  of  the  tree  remain 
unchanged,  although  by  a judicious  system  of  grafting  it  has  been 
made  to  produce  new  varieties  of  fruit. 

What,  then,  will  be  the  fate  of  the  old  religions  in  this  process 
of  reconstruction?  In  answering  this  question  it  is  necessary  first 
to  consider  the  part  played  by  these  religions  in  the  development  of 
the  former  civilization.  The  original  religion  of  the  Japanese  was 
Shinto.*  It  is  very  lacking  in  theological  or  ethical  teachings,  but 
it  has  furnished  the  religious  expression  for  two  of  the  strongest 
Japanese  sentiments,  reverence  for  ancestors  and  loyalty  to  the  Im- 
perial Family.  While  Shinto  itself  does  not  seem  likely  to  survive, 
yet  a place  for  these  sentiments  must  be  found  in  any  future  re- 
ligious reconstruction. 

The  ethical  ideals  of  Japan  are  largely  the  product  of  Confu- 
cianism. It  is  hardly  a religion,  but  it  has  exercised  a far-reaching 
and  lasting  influence  upon  the  life  and  thought  of  the  Japanese, 
especially  of  the  educated  classes.  One  of  the  developments  from 
Confucianism  was  Bushido, f the  way  of  the  Samurai  or  warrior. 
It  was  neither  a religion  nor  a system  of  ethics,  but  may  perhaps 
best  be  described  as  the  spirit  of  loyal  devotion  and  knightly 
honour.  This  spirit  still  retains  its  hold  upon  the  people  generally 
and  will  undoubtedly  be  one  of  the  formulating  influences  in  shap- 
ing their  future  ideals.  Philosophically  Confucianism  was  charac- 
terized by  a positivist  tendency.  As  a result  of  this  one  finds  among 
the  educated  people  of  Japan  a strong  disinclination  to  belief  in  the 
supernatural,  a characteristic  which  will  certainly  play  some  part 
in  determining  their  attitude  towards  religion. 

The  great  turning  point  in  the  development  of  Japanese  civiliza- 
tion was  the  introduction  of  Buddhism  from  Korea  about  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century. £ With  Buddhism  came  not  only  new  religious 
ideas,  but  a new  culture.  It  exercised  the  same  kind  of  civilizing 
influence  in  Japan  that  Christianity  did  in  Northern  Europe.  In 
the  beginning,  indeed,  it  was  the  practical  benefits  brought  by 

*Note:  Aston’s  “Way  of  the  Gods.”  Look  up  other  references.  Harada,  “Faith 
of  Japan.” 

fNote:  Japanese  Confucianism.  Armstrong’s  “Light  from  Ancient  East.”  Nitobe’s 
Bushido. 

tReferences:  History — Murdock,  etc.  Religion — Griffis,  Religions  of  Japan; 
Harada,  Faith  of  Japan;  Reischauer,  Studies  in  Japanese  Buddhism;  Lloyd,  Creed 
of  Half  Japan,  Shinran  and  His  Work. 


8 


BULLETIN-  NO.  15. 


19  2 1 


Buddhism  rather  than  its  doctrinal  teaching  which  impressed  the 
people.  It  was  only  after  it  had  been  to  some  extent  harmonized 
with  pre-existing  Japanese  religious  ideas  that  it  gained  wide- 
spread hold  upon  the  popular  mind.  In  this  process  it  under- 
went many  strange  developments,  some  of  which  were  apparently 
quite  inconsistent  with  the  original  Buddhistic  philosophy.  For 
example,  the  older  Buddhism  taught  that  salvation  was  attained 
only  by  one’s  own  efforts,  while  the  later  Japanese  sects  de- 
veloped the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  the  power  of  another.* 
In  this  doctrine  is  involved  a distinct  approach  towards  theism 
(Amida).  These  Japanese  modifications  of  Buddhism  have  a very 
significant  bearing  upon  the  question  of  the  part  that  it  is  to  play 
in  the  future  reconstruction  of  religion  in  Japan.  First  they  opened 
the  way  for  a much  deeper  impression  of  Buddhistic  conceptions 
upon  Japanese  life  and  thought  than  would  have  been  possible  for 
the  original  religion.  This  means  that  Japanese,  even  though 
Buddhism  itself  should  perish,  will  approach  religion  from  a 
Buddhistic  point  of  view.  Further,  the  character  of  these  modifi- 
cations is  in  the  direction  of  breaking  down  the  contrast  between 
Buddhism  and  the  religious  conceptions  that  have  come  in  from  the 
West.  Finally,  this  capacity  for  adjustment  to  new  conditions 
greatly  increases  the  possibility  of  its  passing  through  such  a crisis 
as  confronts  it  at  the  present  time. 

The  limits  of  these  lectures  do  not  admit  of  any  detailed  ex- 
amination of  the  doctrines  of  Buddhism.  For  our  purpose  the 
important  point  is  that  Buddhism  together  with  Shinto  and  Con- 
fucianism represents  the  religious  conceptions  which  have  become 
natural  to  Japanese.  In  so  far  as  their  life  and  thought  are  de- 
termined by  their  own  past,  any  awakening  of  religious  interest  will 
tend  to  express  itself  along  the  lines  of  their  former  faiths.  A dis- 
tinction must  be  made,  of  course,  between  the  character  and  the 
content  of  their  religious  conceptions.  The  latter  will  undoubtedly 
be  greatly  altered  and  enriched  by  the  new  ideas  which  have  poured 
in  from  the  West,  but  the  manner  of  expressing  this  new  content 
will  be  largely  influenced  by  the  inherited  modes  of  thought  and 
feeling.  For  example,  while  it  seems  certain  that  the  belief  in  a 
supreme  Deity  will  be  included  in  the  future  religion  of  Japanese, 
yet  in  their  conception  of  God  it  will  be  very  difficult  for  them  to 
escape  the  influence  of  the  Pantheism  which  has  been  bred  into 


’Note:  See  Arthur  Lloyd,  Reischauer. 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


9 


their  thought  by  Buddhism.  Not  only  will  the  old  modes  of  thought 
persist^  but  there  are  some  elements  in  their  old  beliefs,  such  as 
reverence  for  ancestors,  with  which  they  will  not  easily  part.  With 
the  great  mass  of  people  satisfaction  of  sentiment  is  perhaps  a more 
cogent  recommendation  of  a religion  than  an  appeal  to  reason. 

What  bearing  have  these  considerations  upon  the  task  that  con- 
fronts Christianity  in  Japan?  They  show  that  the  christianizing 
of  the  nation  as  a whole  is  a much  more  complex  problem  than  it  is 
sometimes  assumed  to  be.  In  estimating,  therefore,  the  nature  and 
magnitude  of  the  missionary  task  it  will  not  do  to  leave  out  of 
account  the  continuing  influence  of  the  old  religions.  It  will  not 
do  to  formulate  our  missionary  policy  on  the  assumption  that  they 
are  doomed  to  decay  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  new  civilization.  That 
may  or  may  not  be  true,  but  in  any  case  their  influence  over  the 
thought  and  life  of  the  people  will  persist.  Two  facts  need  to  be 
borne  in  mind.  First,  Christian  work  up  to  the  present  time  has 
been  to  a large  degree  confined  to  that  element  among  the  people 
which  is  most  susceptible  to  foreign  ideas.  Secondly,  the  reaction 
of  the  old  order  is  only  beginning  to  show  its  real  strength. 

So  far  as  the  religious  sphere  is  concerned  this  reaction  is  taking 
two  forms;  1st,  a revival  of  activity  on  the  part  of  Buddhism;  2d, 
attempts  at  the  formation  of  new  religions.  When  Christianity  first 
came  to  Japan  it  found  Buddhism  reflecting  the  social  and  economic 
lethargy  of  Japanese  Society.  It  appeared  to  have  lost  entirely  that 
aggressive  missionary  spirit  which  characterized  it  in  the  days  when 
it  swept  triumphantly  through  China  and  Japan.  It  seemed  morally 
and  spiritually  decadent.  Buddhism,  however,  has  not  remained 
unaffected  by  the  new  spirit  of  progress  which  has  produced  such 
remarkable  results  in  all  other  directions.  Some  of  its  sects  at  least 
have  begun  to  bestir  themselves,  especially  the  Shinshu,*  which  is 
by  far  the  most  vigorous  and  the  most  popular  in  Japan.  An  inter- 
esting feature  of  this  revival  is  that  the  Shinshu  leaders  have  not 
hesitated  to  break  away  from  tradition  and  to  adopt  ideas  and 
methods  suited  to  the  new  age.  They  have  been  distinctly  influ- 
enced by  Christianity  both  in  their  theology  and  in  their  practical 
methods.  The  theistic  note  to  which  reference  was  made  in  an 
earlier  part  of  the  lecture  is  being  more  and  more  emphasized. 

*Note:  Collections  of  hymns  for  the  use  of  Sunday  Schools  have  been  published. 
The  hymns  are  very  largely  adaptations  of  those  which  have  proved  popular  in  Chris- 
tian schools.  In  some  the  Father  is  addressed  in  practically  the  same  terms  that 
Christians  would  use.  Pamphlets  have  also  been  published  giving  advice  to  parents 
concerning  religious  instruction  and  training. 


10 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


1921 


They  have  organized  Young  Men’s  Buddhist  Associations.  There 
is  a Buddhist  Salvation  Army.  Taking  the  Christian  Sunday  School 
as  a model,  they  are  making  very  energetic  attempts  to  extend  their 
influence  among  the  children  of  the  Empire.  Their  student  priests 
are  being  given  a better  education  than  our  own  theological  candi- 
dates receive.  They  are  producing  and  distributing  widely  a large 
amount  of  excellently  written  propaganda  literature.  Their  social 
welfare  work  is  beginning  to  attract  sympathetic  attention.  In  addi- 
tion to  their  activities  at  home,  they  are  carrying  on  missionary 
work  in  several  foreign  countries.* 

It  is  too  early  yet  to  say  what  the  final  results  of  this  revival 
will  be.  Pure  Buddhism,  with  its  pessimism,  would  hardly  seem 
to  be  a religion  suited  to  a progressive  people.  On  the  other  hand 
Shinshu  represents  a wide  divergence  from  orthodox  Buddhism  and 
is  even  now  showing  a marked  capacity  for  adjusting  itself  to  new 
conditions.  Much  depends  upon  the  amount  of  moral  earnestness 
back  of  the  movement.  In  any  case  it  suggests  one  possible  form 
which  the  religious  reconstruction  may  take.  To  the  alternative 
Christianity  or  materialism  we  must  add  a third  term,  modernized 
and  Christianized  Buddhism. 

The  second  form  in  which  the  religious  reaction  is  manifesting 
itself  is  the  springing  up  of  new  religions.  Japanese  scholars  have 
frequently  suggested  that  what  Japan  needs  is  a form  of  belief 
combining  all  the  good  points  of  the  world’s  great  religions  while 
leaving  out  all  of  their  superstitious  elements.  The  new  religions, 
however,  have  disregarded  entirely  this  advice.  Their  creeds  con- 
sist for  the  most  part  of  a jumble  of  naive  and  superstitious  ideas 
fitted  into  a Shinto  setting,  with  some  special  feature  added  which 
attracts  popular  attention.  Thus  Tenrikyo  practices  faith  healing 
and  Omotokyo,  the  latest  of  these  sects,  appeals  to  the  sentiment 
of  nationalism.  While  none  of  these  can  be  considered  as  serious 
competitors  for  Japan’s  future  religious  allegiance,  both  the  form 
that  such  movements  have  taken  and  the  success  with  which  they 
have  met  suggest  the  possibility  of  the  emergence  of  a religious 
movement  in  which  modern  ideas  will  be  grafted  on  to  the  body  of 
the  old  Japanese  faiths.  They  at  least  serve  to  show  how  firm  a 
hold  the  old  religious  sentiments  and  modes  of  thought  retain  upon 
the  people  generally.  Until  Christianity  has  established  points  of 
contact  with  these  traditional  sentiments  and  ideas,  it  will  be  diffi- 

*e.  g.,  Hawaii,  United  States,  Korea,  China. 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


11 


cult  to  get  the  masses  of  the  people  to  respond  to  its  appeal.  In 
this  connection  mention  should  be  made  of  the  efforts  of  the  authori- 
ties during  recent  years  to  revive  interest  in  Shinto,  not  indeed  as  a 
religion  but  rather  as  a national  cult.  This  movement  is  due  to 
the  apprehension  lest  material  and  intellectual  development  should 
result  in  the  undermining  of  the  national  spirit  of  the  people.  In 
order  to  prevent  this,  official  encouragement  is  being  given  to  the 
performance  of  ceremonies  connected  with  the  shrines  of  the  Im- 
perial ancestors  and  of  the  national  heroes.  The  government  is 
careful  to  explain  that  worship  before  these  shrines  is  not  religious, 
but  is  meant  to  arouse  patriotic  sentiment.  It  is  difficult,  however, 
to  maintain  this  distinction  in  the  minds  of  the  masses  of  the  people. 
Prof.  Chamberlain  has  described  this  movement  as  the  creation  of  a 
new  religion.*  While  any  such  intention  is  disclaimed,  yet  un- 
doubtedly the  sentiment  aroused  by  such  rites  is  religious  in  char- 
acter. Patriotism  is  not,  as  is  sometimes  said,  the  only  religion  of 
the  Japanese,  but  no  religion  which  does  not  give  satisfaction  to 
their  patriotic  feeling  will  be  likely  to  win  their  allegiance. 

So  far  we  have  been  considering  the  problems  that  are  raised 
for  Christian  missionary  work  by  the  influence  of  the  pre-existing 
religions.  We  found  reasons  to  believe  that  these  problems  will 
be  much  more  serious  in  the  future  than  they  have  been  in  the  past. 
We  must  now  turn  our  attention  to  difficulties  of  another  kind.  In 
the  case  of  the  introduction  of  Buddhism  into  Japan  we  saw  that 
in  the  beginning  it  was  the  practical  benefits  it  brought  rather  than 
the  nature  of  its  creed  that  secured  it  a welcome.  The  same  thing 
was  to  a large  extent  true  with  regard  to  the  reception  accorded 
Christianity.  Its  missionaries  came  (to  Japan)  to  proclaim  the 
Gospel,  but  they  brought  with  them  practical  evidences  of  the  value 
of  their  teaching.  They  were  the  apostles  of  the  ideal  side  of  the 
new  civilization,  whose  material  achievements  were  making  a pro- 
found impression  upon  the  Japanese.  For  the  religion  by  itself 
there  was  not  likely  to  be  much  enthusiasm.  Indeed  Japan  had  for 
centuries  nursed  an  intense  suspicion  of  Christianity.  When,  how- 
ever, its  missionaries  began  to  establish  schools,  build  hospitals  and 
to  devote  themselves  to  bettering  social  and  moral  conditions,  this 
suspicion  gave  way  to  respect  for  a religion  which  produced  such 
fruits.  Gradually  also  the  value  and  the  reasonableness  of  certain 
aspects  of  its  teaching  won  recognition,  especially  among  those 

*Note:  Creation  of  New  Religion — B.  H.  Chamberlain.  Note  expenditure  of 

several  millions  on  Meiji  Shrine  and  ceremonies  connected  with  its  opening. 


12 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


19  2 1 


who  had  imbibed  the  spirit  of  the  new  times.  Some  of  those  who 
were  thus  attracted  by  the  teaching  and  labours  of  the  missionaries 
identified  themselves  with  the  Christian  organizations,  but  the  ma- 
jority were  content  with  accepting  the  practical  lessons.  It  thus 
happened  that  while  the  churches  grew  but  slowly,  Christian  ideas 
and  standards  obtained  a wide  following.  The  result  of  this  was 
that  soon  the  example  set  by  the  missionaries  began  to  be  followed 
outside  the  limits  of  the  Christian  community.  Moral  and  social 
principles  which  had  at  first  been  associated  with  Christianity  be- 
came the  accepted  standard  of  educated  public  opinion.  This  is  a 
great  tribute  to  the  influence  of  Christianity,  but  at  the  same  time 
it  deprives  it  of  one  of  its  chief  assets  in  its  evangelistic  appeal. 
Formerly  Christians  might  be  said  to  have  had  a monopoly  of  the 
leadership  in  philanthropic  enterprises.  Today  the  amount  of  such 
work  under  Christian  control  represents  only  a small  proportion  of 
what  is  being  done.  Only  recently  in  a Kyoto  paper  there  appeared 
an  article  strongly  criticizing  Christianity  for  the  falling  off  of  its 
interest  in  social  welfare  work.  “Even  the  Buddhists,”  said  the 
writer,  “are  showing  more  activity  in  these  matters  than  are  the 
Churches.”  The  criticism  was  hardly  fair,  for  during  the  past 
twenty  years  Japanese  Christians  have  greatly  increased  both  the 
scope  and  the  intensity  of  their  philanthropic  efforts.  Twenty  years 
ago,  however,  they  had  few  competitors.  Now  interest  in  such  ques- 
tions has  become  general.  The  large  and  well-equipped  institutions 
founded  by  the  Government  and  by  wealthy  individuals  overshadow 
anything  that  Christians  can  do  with  the  scanty  means  at  their 
disposal. 

It  is  not  meant  to  imply  that  this  Christianization  of  public 
opinion  is  a drawback  to  missionary  work.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
one  of  the  ends  towards  which  we  have  been  striving  and  its  ac- 
complishment means  that  it  is  now  possible  to  advance  to  the  next 
stage  of  our  programme.  If  the  purpose  of  our  work  up  to  the 
present  has  been  to  create  public  sentiment  sympathetic  with  Chris- 
tian ideals  and  to  develop  the  Japanese  Church,  the  next  step  will 
be  to  make  an  evangelistic  appeal  to  this  sentiment  through  the 
agency  of  that  Church.  The  springing  up  of  new  problems  and  new 
difficulties  is  a sign  that  new  and  larger  opportunities  lie  ahead  of 
us.  They  also  teach  us  that  as  our  work  develops  and  as  its  char- 
acter changes  we  must  be  prepared  to  alter  our  methods  to  suit  the 
new  conditions. 


« 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


13 


The  religious  situation  in  Japan  is  further  complicated  by  the 
fact  that  the  influences  coming  in  from  the  West  have  not  by  any 
means  been  altogether  favourable  to  Christianity.  This  would  have 
been  the  case  even  if  the  Oriental  had  given  an  impartial  welcome 
to  all  sides  of  western  civilization.  He  was  not,  however,  particu- 
larly impressed  with  its  spiritual  superiority,  but  concentrated  his 
attention  almost  entirely  upon  its  material  and  intellectual  achieve- 
ments. These,  so  far  from  creating  any  interest  in  Christianity, 
led  him  rather  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  result  was  wide- 
spread materialism  and  agnosticism.  The  influence  of  the  Christian 
countries  themselves  gives  rise  to  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  met 
with  in  carrying  on  missionary  work. 

There  are  many  other  features  of  the  situation  in  Japan  which 
have  an  important  bearing  on  the  formulation  of  missionary  policies, 
but  it  will  be  best  to  postpone  mention  of  these  until  we  have  de- 
termined what  is  involved  in  presenting  Christianity  to  a society 
whose  modes  of  thought  are  those  of  the  old  religions  and  whose 
practical  standards  are,  roughly  speaking,  those  of  Christianity. 
Two  difficulties  at  once  suggest  themselves.  Christianity  expressed 
in  purely  Western  terms  will  not  fit  in  with  their  religious  point  of 
view,  nor  can  it  any  longer  depend  upon  its  contribution  of  prac- 
tical benefits  to  compensate  for  that  disadvantage.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  old  religions  do  not  furnish  an  adequate  basis  for  the  new 
life.  It  is  just  here  that  Christianity  will  find  powerful  support  for 
its  appeal.  Can  we  not  say  then  that  our  future  task  is  to  present 
Christianity  to  the  Japanese  in  such  a way  that  they  can  find  in  it 
satisfaction  for  all  the  truth  of  their  old  religion,  both  as  regards 
its  substance  and  its  form,  and  that  in  addition  they  shall  find  a 
Gospel  adequate  for  the  new  life  which  they  have  learned  to  prize? 
In  other  words,  we  must  let  Christ  speak  to  them  His  gracious 
message,  “I  am  come  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfill.”  We  must  make 
plain  the  capacity  of  Christianity  to  be  a New  Testament,  not  only 
to  Hebraism  and  to  Greek  Philosophy,  but  also  to  Buddhism,  Shinto 
and  Confucianism.  We  must  recognize  that  God  in  time  past  spoke 
at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  to  the  Oriental  as  well  as  to 
the  Hebrew  and  to  the  Greek.  Should  we  not  also  expect  that  the 
fullness  of  the  Godhead  which  dwells  in  Christ  cannot  be  perfectly 
revealed  until  He  has  had  the  opportunity  to  bring  to  its  consumma- 
tion those  aspects  of  the  truth  that  were  entrusted  to  the  prophets 
of  the  East? 


14 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


1921 


A moment’s  thought  is  sufficient  to  show  that  this  task,  which 
is  so  easy  to  state  abstractly,  involves  enormous  difficulties  which 
up  to  the  present  time  we  have  not  really  faced.  When  we  remem- 
ber how  arduous  has  been  the  process  of  adjusting  our  expression 
of  Christianity  to  the  development  of  our  own  thought,  we  will 
appreciate  something  of  what  is  involved  in  harmonizing  it  with  an 
entirely  different  order  of  ideas.  It  will  not  be  easy  to  distinguish 
between  what  is  of  the  essence  and  what  is  merely  due  to  our  modes 
of  thinking.  Names  and  forms  that  have  become  dear  by  long 
association  will  have  to  be  sacrificed.  A great  change  of  heart  will 
be  required  to  enable  us  to  get  rid  of  what  seems  to  be  a congenital 
characteristic  of  westerners,  the  sense  of  their  own  superiority.  On 
the  other  side  is  the  danger  of  allowing  the  resultant  religion  to 
be  determined  altogether  by  the  exigencies  of  the  situation,  to  be- 
come a reduced,  instead  of  an  enriched,  Christianity.  In  our  search 
for  points  of  contact  we  must  not  disregard  the  points  of  contrast. 
We  must  be  loyal  to  St.  Paul’s  principle,  “The  Jews  require  a 
sign,  the  Greeks  seek  after  wisdom,  but  we  preach  Christ  crucified,” 
not  indeed  with  dogmatic  arrogance,  but  by  displaying  persuasive 
evidence  that  in  us  He  has  proved  Himself  to  be  both  the  power  and 
the  wisdom  of  God.  These  problems,  of  course,  do  not  call  for 
immediate  decision.  They  will  arise  in  the  course  of  a long  process, 
but  it  is  necessary  to  qualify  ourselves  to  deal  with  questions  that 
are  sure  to  come  up,  one  might  almost  say  to  orientate  ourselves. 
Also  it  is  important  to  formulate  policies  that  will  allow  this  de- 
velopment to  begin  and  go  forward  freely. 

When  one  considers  the  nature  of  this  new  task  the  importance 
of  the  native  Churches  will  be  at  once  evident.  It  is  not  without 
reason  that  the  chief  emphasis  in  our  work  so  far  has  been  laid  upon 
their  organization  and  upon  the  training  of  leaders.  Only  a Church 
to  which  the  Oriental  mode  of  thought  is  an  inheritance  is  qualified 
for  the  task  of  interpreting  Christianity  to  the  great  mass  of  East- 
erners. A people  like  the  Japanese  whose  national  self-conscious- 
ness and  national  self-reliance  are  highly  developed  will  not  readily 
yield  to  the  appeal  of  a religion  which  is  not  incorporated  into  the 
national  life.  The  significant  feature  in  the  present  missionary 
situation  is  found  in  the  coming  to  age,  as  it  were,  of  the  Japanese 
Church.  This  means  that  the  first  stage  of  our  missionary  work, 
that  is,  the  development  of  the  organism  through  which  Japan  can 
be  evangelized,  is  nearing  its  completion.  In  the  lectures  which 


« 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


15 


follow  we  shall  consider  the  question,  What  further  is  required  of 
us  to  enable  this  organism,  this  indigenous  Church  so  full  of  promise 
but  at  the  same  time  so  immature  and  so  lacking  in  resources,  to 
fulfill  the  purpose  for  which  it  has  been  created? 


LECTURE  II 
Policies  in  the  Field 


IN  the  preceding  lecture  we  considered  the  problems  that  are 
raised  for  missionary  work  by  the  religious  attitude  of  the 
Japanese.  We  found  that  while  they  had  accepted  quite  widely 
Christian  practical  ideas,  philosophically  and  sentimentally  the 
fundamental  influence  was  that  of  the  old  religions.  One  often 
hears  the  criticism,  “Christianity  is  inferior  to  Buddhism  philo- 
sophically, but  more  efficient  practically.”  Moreover,  the  influence 
of  modern  scientific  teaching  is  seen  in  the  prevalence  among  the 
educated  classes  of  agnosticism,  or  at  least  of  a demand  for  a 
religion  stripped  of  all  supernatural  elements.  The  Christian 
apologetic  must,  therefore,  be  presented  in  such  a form  that  it  will 
meet  the  objections  of  modern  thought  and  at  the  same  time  awaken 
a response  from  the  submerged  but  not  extinct  oriental  religious 
temperament.  Experience  shows  that  the  foreign  missionary  is  not 
qualified  to  fulfill  the  second  of  these  conditions,  but  that  we  must 
depend  upon  Japanese  Christians  to  interpret  Christianity  to  Japa- 
nese. This,  however,  does  not  mean  the  cessation  or  even  any 
lessening  of  the  contribution  which  Western  Churches  have  been 
making  to  the  missionary  cause.  The  evangelization  of  Japan  will 
require  the  putting  forth  of  the  united  efforts  of  the  whole  of  Chris- 
tendom, but  the  time  has  come  when  outside  assistance  should  be 
mediated  through  the  agency  of  the  indigenous  Church.  It  is  not 
a question  of  whether  our  help  is  needed,  but  of  how  it  shall  be 
given.  The  answer  is  that  henceforth  it  should  be  given  by  way 
of  co-operation  and  not  of  control.  We  must  allow  the  Japanese 
to  work  freely  as  Japanese  and  not  simply  as  mouthpieces  of  the 
Western  Churches.  At  the  same  time  we  must  give  them  such  sup- 
port as  will  make  their  work  as  Japanese  effective  for  the  end  in 
view.  The  purpose  of  this  lecture  is  to  show  that  the  development 
of  the  Japanese  Church  has  reached  a stage  at  which  this  change 
of  policy  is  both  feasible  and  desirable,  and  further  to  indicate  what 
it  means  in  practice. 

It  is  necessary  first  of  all  to  review  briefly  the  methods  of  work 
that  have  been  followed  up  to  the  present  and  the  results  that  have 
been  accomplished.  In  doing  this  we  shall  leave  out  of  considera- 
tion the  Roman  and  Greek  Catholic  Missions.  Although  their  work 


4 


16 


192  1 


BULLETIN  NO.  IS. 


17 


has  met  with  great  success,  their  methods  and  their  relation  to  the 
home  Churches  are  so  different  from  the  general  type  that  they 
throw  only  incidental  light  on  our  particular  problem. 

The  first  Protestant  missionaries  reached  Japan  in  1859.  They 
were  not  able  to  do  much  direct  evangelistic  work  until  1873,  when 
the  edicts  against  Christianity  were  abolished.  During  this  period 
only  about  ten  people  were  baptized.  It  was  not,  however,  barren 
of  results.  The  missionaries  familiarized  themselves  with  the  lan- 
guage. A beginning  was  made  in  the  translation  of  the  Bible.  Of 
still  more  importance  for  the  future  was  the  progress  made  in  gain- 
ing the  confidence  of  the  people  and  in  softening  the  intense  hatred 
of  the  Christian  religion. 

In  1873  the  removal  of  the  edicts  against  Christianity  and  the 
arrival  of  a large  number  of  new  missionaries  made  possible  the 
commencement  of  aggressive  work.  The  end  to  be  pursued  was 
two-fold, — the  development  of  a Japanese  Church  and  the  general 
promulgation  of  Christian  ideas.  All  the  forms  of  work  engaged 
in  had  these  two  objects  in  view.  The  results  accomplished  by  the 
sermon,  the  school,  the  hospital  or  the  tract  were  not  confined  to 
the  comparatively  small  number  who  received  baptism.  Equally  as 
significant  for  the  future  Christianization  of  the  nation  was  the  in- 
fluence exerted  upon  those  who  did  not  respond  to  the  appeal  to  unite 
themselves  with  the  Church,  for  through  them  a general  understand- 
ing of  the  Christian  point  of  view  became  widely  disseminated. 

Further  in  regard  to  those  who  became  converts  the  purpose 
was  not  simply  to  make  as  many  as  possible.  It  was  rather  to 
organize  them  into  an  autonomous  Church.  For  the  formation  of  a 
Church  the  training  of  converts  is  no  less  important  than  their 
acquisition.  It  is  certainly  more  difficult.  Not  only  must  the  gen- 
eral body  of  members  be  trained  in  the  doctrine  and  practice  of 
Christianity,  but  leaders  are  needed,  men  qualified  to  fill  the  posi- 
tion which  in  the  first  place  is  necessarily  occupied  by  the  foreign 
missionary.  The  Church’s  capacity  for  influencing  the  nation  will 
depend  upon  the  character  of  its  leadership  more  than  upon  its  size. 

We  see,  therefore,  why  from  the  beginning  great  emphasis  was 
laid  upon  educational,  philanthropic  and  literary  work.  Looked  at 
purely  from  the  point  of  view  of  making  converts,  schools  and 
charitable  institutions  might  seem  to  be  a misapplication  of  funds 
and  energy.  The  same  amount  of  money  put  into  evangelistic  work 
would  undoubtedly  produce  greater  results,  so  far  as  numbers  go. 


18 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


192  1 


The  function  of  the  school  is  to  supply  the  leadership  without  which 
even  a multitude  of  converts  would  fail  to  constitute  a Church. 
The  most  hopeful  feature  of  the  work  in  Japan  today  is  the  large 
body  of  well-trained,  earnest  native  ministers.  These  men  repre- 
sent the  contribution  of  missionary  education  to  the  cause  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  school  is  also  useful  in  removing  prejudice  and  in 
creating  a sympathetic  attitude  towards  Christianity  on  the  part 
of  the  people  generally,  thus  opening  the  way  for  the  extension  of 
evangelistic  work. 

This  same  consideration  applies  with  equal  force  to  philan- 
thropic institutions.  The  practical  illustration  which  they  give  of 
the  spirit  of  the  new  religion  carries  greater  conviction  than  many 
sermons.  The  number  of  baptisms  among  the  patients  of  a hospital 
may  be  small  compared  with  the  expenditure  of  money  it  involves, 
but  its  influence  affects  thousands  who  would  never  venture  into  a 
preaching  hall.  A prominent  Japanese  once  remarked,  “St.  Luke’s 
Hospital  is  your  Church’s  most  eloquent  missionary.”  Philanthropic 
work  also  furnishes  the  means  of  training  the  young  converts  in 
their  practical  duties  as  Christians. 

Some  idea  of  the  success  which  attended  these  methods  may  be 
obtained  from  the  statistics  compiled  for  the  Osaka  Conference  of 
Missionaries  in  1883.  During  ten  years  the  number  of  the  baptized 
members  of  the  various  Churches  had  increased  from  ten  to  five 
thousand.  There  were  ninety-three  organized  congregations,  of 
which  fifteen  were  already  self-supporting.  A native  ministry,  con- 
sisting of  forty-nine  ordained  men  and  one  hundred  evangelists, 
had  been  developed.  The  subjects  appointed  for  discussion  in  the 
conference  are  significant  as  showing  the  nature  of  the  problems 
that  had  begun  to  confront  the  work.  Among  what  are  called 
obstacles  to  the  reception  of  Christianity  we  find  cited,  not  only  the 
influence  of  the  old  religions,  but  also  the  widespread  reading  of 
anti-Christian  literature  imported  from  the  West.  There  were  sev- 
eral papers  read  on  the  purpose  and  methods  of  educational  work. 
Much  attention  was  given  to  the  question  as  to  the  proper  kind  of 
training  needed  for  native  pastors.  The  position  of  medical  mis- 
sions was  discussed.  The  subject  that  seemed  to  have  roused  the 
warmest  debate  was  “Self-support  in  the  Native  Church:  Should 
foreign  money  be  used  at  all”  ? In  all  these  papers  the  true  aim 
of  missionary  work,  the  development  of  the  indigenous  Church,  is 
kept  well  in  the  foreground.  Already  we  find  attention  being  called 


i 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


19 


to  the  question  of  the  relation  between  native  self-support  and  help 
from  abroad,  although  for  the  most  part  the  discussions  assume  the 
continuance  of  missionary  control. 

During  the  period  preceding  the  Osaka  Conference  considerable 
progress  had  been  made  in  bringing  about  a more  favourable  atti- 
tude towards  Christianity,  especially  on  the  part  of  the  Central 
Government.  There  was  still,  however,  a great  deal  of  opposition, 
not  only  from  the  partisans  of  the  old  religions,  but  from  intelligent 
people  who,  though  indifferent  to  religion  in  general,  were  convinced 
that  Christianity  was  detrimental  to  the  national  welfare.  In  1882, 
for  example,  we  find  Mr.  Fukuzawa,  one  of  the  pioneer  reformers 
of  Modern  Japan,  writing,  “The  national  religion  of  Japan  is 
Buddhist.  We  must  protect  it  from  decay.  The  higher  classes  of 
Japan  care  nothing  about  any  religion.  Nevertheless,  at  the  pres- 
ent juncture  this  peculiar  merit  of  the  Japanese  is  a grave  detriment 
to  the  country.  That  Christianity  is  a danger  to  our  national  power 
is  evident.  Unless  Buddhism  is  assisted  by  the  influence  of  the 
upper  classes  nothing  can  obstruct  the  intrusion  of  Christianity. 
Buddhist  priests  are  immoral  and  shameless,  and  without  energy  of 
spirit.  It  is  very  unsafe  to  trust  this  weighty  cause  to  them  alone. 
We  do  not  believe  in  Buddhism  nor  do  we  respect  the  priest.  Our 
concern  is  for  the  national  power,  in  the  conservation  of  which 
that  religion  must  be  utilized.”* 

Even  in  this  article,  however,  we  see  evidences  of  the  great 
change  that  was  beginning  to  take  place  in  public  opinion.  That 
change  was  due  in  the  first  place  to  growing  enthusiasm  for  every- 
thing western,  but  it  was  the  good  work  done  during  a long  period 
of  years  that  enabled  the  Church  to  take  advantage  of  the  new 
situation.  Crowds  of  eager  inquirers  began  to  pour  into  the  mission 
stations.  Numerous  invitations  to  open  work  or  to  send  someone  to 
give  instruction  in  Christianity  were  received.  Even  those  who 
were  cynically  indifferent  to  religion  urged  the  adoption  of  Chris- 
tianity as  a national  policy.  The  same  Mr.  Fukuzawa  who  was  so 
strenuous  in  his  opposition  in  1882,  three  years  later  writes,  “There 
is  no  alternative  for  our  country  but  to  adopt  the  social  color  of 
civilized  nations  in  order  to  maintain  our  independence  on  a footing 
of  equality  with  the  various  powers  of  the  West.  As  an  absolutely 
necessary  preliminary  the  Christian  religion  must  be  introduced 
from  Europe  and  America.”']'  Men  like  Mr.  Fukuzawa  were  not  at 


*Quoted  in  Cary — History  of  Christianity  in  Japan,  p.  159. 
tQuoted  by  Cary,  op.  cit.  p.  172. 


20 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


1921 


all  interested  in  Christianity  from  the  purely  religious  point  of 
view.  They  represented  the  old  Confucian  school  of  thought,  whose 
inherited  aloofness  to  the  supernatural  had  been  confirmed  by  the 
influence  of  Western  rationalism.  It  was  a question  of  policy.  As 
Mr.  Fukuzawa  put  it  in  another  article,  “We  must  change  our  pro- 
fessed belief  and  wear  a religious  dress  uniform  with  others.  We 
cannot  attach  too  much  importance  to  Japan’s  entrance  into  the 
comity  of  Christian  nations.” 

In  such  circumstances  the  Christian  community  developed  with 
great  rapidity.  Within  five  years  after  the  Osaka  Conference  its 
baptized  membership  had  increased  to  over  25,000, — that  is  more 
than  500  per  cent.* 

There  was  corresponding  progress  in  self-support  and  in  the 
development  of  the  native  ministry.  Under  such  conditions,  how- 
ever, rapid  growth  was  accompanied  by  grave  dangers.  A large 
proportion  of  those  who  were  so  eager  to  become  Christians  had 
very  little  idea  of  what  Christianity  really  meant.  Their  faith  was 
sincere  enough,  but  it  was  faith  in  Christianity  as  the  religion  of 
civilization.  With  some  this  was  the  stepping  stone  to  a true  con- 
version, so  that  the  Churches  owe  many  of  their  staunchest  adherents 
and  most  capable  ministers  to  this  period.  The  faith  of  others, 
however,  withered  with  the  passing  away  of  the  atmosphere  in 
which  it  was  born.  The  time  of  testing  came  when  in  the  nineties 
the  enthusiasm  for  Western  ideas  was  succeeded  by  a nationalistic 
reaction.  This  gave  the  elements  opposed  to  Christianity  the  oppor- 
tunity to  dominate  public  sentiment.  The  Churches  suffered  both 
from  the  falling  away  of  their  members  and  from  the  retardation 
of  evangelistic  work.  Even  those  who  remained  loyal  were  affected 
by  the  wave  of  reaction.  Japan  did  not  indeed  propose  to  throw 
overboard  all  that  she  had  learned  from  the  West,  but  rather  to 
make  it  truly  Japanese.  Western  interference  or  advice  was  greatly 
resented.f  Accordingly  in  the  Church  there  arose  a strong  move- 
ment for  throwing  off  the  dependence  of  Japanese  Christianity  upon 
its  Western  teachers  and  for  giving  it  a Japanese  form.  This  move- 
ment deserves  attention  because  it  represents  a premature  attempt 
to  realize  the  end  towards  which  missionary  work  is  directed.  We 
can  learn  from  it  some  of  the  problems  involved  in  such  a step  and 

*Cary,  op.  cit.  p.  174:  Roman  Catholic,  1890,  42,000  (including  children);  Greek 
1883,  8,863  (including  children). 

tNote:  Dr.  Cary  cites  as  an  instance  of  this,  that  when  someone  criticized  blun- 
ders in  the  English  of  articles  published  by  Japanese,  the  reply  was  that  Japanese  need 
not  be  bound  by  the  rules  in  force  in  England,  but  would  produce  a Japanese  form  of 
English  superior  to  the  original. 


« 


4 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


21 


some  of  the  conditions  which  are  indispensable  to  its  success.  In 
the  first  place  the  motive  that  inspired  the  movement  was  not  only 
concern  for  the  welfare  of  the  cause  but  also  resentment  against 
foreign  control.  Such  resentment  is  perfectly  natural,  but  unless 
it  is  based  upon  a strong  sense  of  the  responsibility  of  the  native 
Church  for  the  Christianization  of  Japan  and  a conviction  that  this 
can  be  carried  out  more  efficiently  by  Japanese  working  indepen- 
dently, it  is  insufficient  to  guarantee  useful  results.  In  the  second 
place  the  Japanese  Church  was  not  mature  enough  either  in  strength 
or  character  to  dispense  with  outside  guidance  and  help.  Could  it 
have  counted  on  the  loyal  support  of  all  of  its  members  and  could 
these  have  been  united  in  one  body,  it  would  doubtless  have  been 
better  qualified  for  vigorous  activity.  Already  many  of  those  who 
had  entered  the  Church  so  enthusiastically  had  grown  cold  and  were 
backsliding  morally.  The  really  staunch  Christians  were  divided 
up  among  a number  of  denominations,  no  one  of  which  was  strong 
enough  for  useful  independent  work.  The  most  serious  drawback, 
however,  was  that  even  the  ablest  of  the  leaders  did  not  have  a 
sufficiently  firm  grasp  of  Christianity  to  qualify  them  for  the  task 
of  modifying  it  to  suit  Japanese  conditions.  They  had  accepted  the 
instruction  given  them  on  the  authority  of  their  teachers,  but  had 
not  assimilated  it  thoroughly  enough  to  be  able  to  stand  firm  against 
the  criticisms  of  the  rationalizing  philosophy  that  dominated  the 
Japanese  intellectual  world  at  that  period.  As  soon,  therefore,  as 
the  restraint  of  the  authority  on  which  they  had  accepted  the  tradi- 
tional teachings  was  removed,  they  succumbed  to  the  influence  of 
their  environment.  In  such  circumstances  their  proposed  adjust- 
ment of  Christianity  to  suit  Japanese  conditions  was  neither  safe 
nor  useful.  In  the  first  place,  there  was  nothing  to  balance  the 
demand  for  stripping  religion  of  its  supernatural  elements.  Further, 
the  environment  itself  did  not  represent  the  permanent  religious 
characteristics  of  Japan.  Under  these  prevailing  conditions  the 
so-called  adjustment  would  have  been  only  a conflict  between  two 
forms  of  Western  thought  and  the  resultant  faith  would  have  been 
much  less  qualified  than  traditional  Christianity  even  in  its  Western 
form  for  meeting  the  real  problems  that  would  ultimately  have  to 
be  solved. 

Another  lesson  which  a study  of  this  period  suggests  is  the 
importance  of  reconciling  independence  and  the  continuance  of  con- 
tact with  the  older  Churches.  The  principle  laid  down  by  one  of 


22 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


19  2 1 


the  chief  protagonists  of  the  movement  toward  a Japanese  Christian- 
ity was  that*  “henceforth  we  must  think  independently  and  construct 
without  assistance  so  as  to  build  a Church  of  Japan.”  This  meant 
the  entire  repudiation,  not  only  of  foreign  dictation,  but  also  of 
foreign  co-operation.  Independence  achieved  in  such  a spirit  was 
not  likely  to  prove  a success  especially  in  view  of  the  immaturity  of 
the  native  Church.  On  the  other  hand  the  foreign  missions  failed  to 
find  any  mode  of  continuing  their  influence  and  support  and  at  the 
same  time  giving  scope  for  Japanese  initiative.  The  conditions 
were  not  yet  ripe  for  the  solution  of  that  problem.  The  Japanese 
Church  needed  to  continue  for  a while  longer  under  tutelage,  but  the 
experience  was  at  least  a warning  that  the  time  was  approaching 
when,  in  order  to  ensure  further  development,  a way  would  have  to 
be  found  of  transferring  the  control  of  the  work  to  native  leaders 
without  abandoning  them  altogether. 


STATISTICS  SHOWING  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  NIPPON  SEI  KOKWAI 

1910-1919 


Ordained 

Baptized 

No.  of 

Total  Con- 

Clergy 

Persons 

Communicants 

tributions  (Yen) 

1910-1919 

1910-1919 

1910-1919 

1910-1919 

No.  Tokyo 

14 

25 

2,759 

5.881 

1,738 

2,744 

7,408.85 

21,128.95 

So.  Tokyo 

...  15 

14 

2,887 

4,731 

1,741 

1,805 

7,158.50 

12,153.00 

Mid-Japan  

5 

1,696 

727 

4,716.39 

Kyoto  

11 

24 

2,682 

4,915 

1,599 

1,820 

9,115.17 

*23,574.31 

Osaka  

. . . . 12 

15 

2,760 

5,069 

1,634 

2,029 

6,650.12 

13,846.63 

Kyushu  

3 

7 

1,239 

1,990 

624 

860 

2,001.13 

6,552.75 

Hokkaido  

2 

6 

2,866 

3,311 

772 

879 

2,520.57 

10,094.41 

Formosa  

1 

2 

121 

383 

71 

176 

347.42 

1,203.13 

Totals  

...  58 

98 

15,314 

27,976 

8,179 

11,103 

35,201.76 

93,269.57 

* Including  offertories 


With  the  opening  of  the  twentieth  century  conditions  became 
more  favourable  for  the  progress  of  Christian  work.  The  reaction 
gradually  lost  its  extreme  anti-foreign  character.  Moreover,  the 
prospect  of  trouble  with  Russia  exercised  a sobering  effect.  The 
necessity  for  developing  the  real  strength  of  the  nation  in  order  to 
meet  the  approaching  crisis  overrode  all  sentimental  considerations 
in  the  adjustment  of  the  new  civilization  to  local  conditions.  At  the 
same  time  a decided  change  in  the  attitude  of  thinking  men  towards 
religion  began  to  manifest  itself.  They  saw  with  concern  that 
education  and  material  development  did  not  ensure  the  moral  wel- 
fare of  society.  Although  personally  they  might  not  feel  the  slight- 
est need  of  religion  nor  any  interest  in  its  doctrines,  yet  they  were 
driven  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  indispensable  in  order  to  supply 


*Cary,  vol.  II,  p.  219. 


19  2 1 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


23 


a basis  for  the  ideal  side  of  the  nation’s  life.  Opinion  was  greatly 
divided  as  to  what  religion  was  best  suited  to  meet  the  need,  but 
Christianity  derived  at  least  this  benefit  from  the  discussion  of  the 
question,  that  it  created  a general  willingness  to  listen  to  its  teach- 
ings. 

Under  these  conditions  the  work  developed,  not  as  rapidly  indeed 
as  in  the  period  from  1882  to  1888,  but  much  more  normally.  There 
was  a steady  increase  in  Church  membership,  until  in  1917  the 
number  of  baptized  people  had  risen  to  more  than  two  hundred  thou- 
sand, including  seventy-five  thousand  Roman  and  thirty  thousand 
Greek  Catholics.*  Some  eight  hundred  ordained  native  ministers 
and  three  hundred  and  twenty  self-supporting  congregations  indicate 
still  more  clearly  the  growth  in  capacity  for  Japanese  control.  If 
the  purpose  of  missionary  work  were  simply  the  organization  of  an 
indigenous  Church,  able  to  support  itself  and  manage  its  own  affairs, 
we  should  be  justified  in  concluding  from  these  statistics  that  our 
task  is  nearing  its  completion.  Already  many  of  the  Japanese 
Churches  are  strong  enough  to  survive,  even  though  we  should  with- 
draw all  our  men  and  cut  off  all  our  financial  aid.  If,  however,  the 
evangelization  of  Japan  as  a nation  is  our  aim,  then  we  cannot  con- 
sider ourselves  absolved  from  further  responsibility  until  we  have 
provided  the  means  for  accomplishing  that  end.  A Church  able  to 
maintain  itself  and  a Church  competent  to  give  Christianity  to  the 
nation  are  two  different  things.  The  fundamental  question,  there- 
fore, in  determining  future  missionary  policy  is  whether  the  inde- 
pendent Church,  which  is  now  in  process  of  formation,  is  competent 
to  carry  forward,  unaided,  the  evangelization  of  Japan. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  Japanese  themselves  could  not  at  the 
present  time  furnish  the  financial  support  necessary  to  maintain  the 
extensive  evangelistic  work  carried  on  by  the  missions.  While  there 
are  three  hundred  self-supporting  congregations,  there  are  some  fif- 
teen hundred  stations  which  depend  upon  outside  aid.  Were  foreign 
help  withdrawn  a large  proportion  of  this  subsidized  work  would 
have  to  be  abandoned.  Such  a backward  step  as  this  is  clearly  out  of 
the  question.  It  is  to  be  presumed,  however,  that  these  aided  congre- 
gations will  in  time  become  self-supporting  and  be  transferred  to 
what  we  may  call  the  autonomous  portion  of  Japanese  Christianity. 
If  we  suppose  this  process  completed,  will  the  result  be  a Church 

’Statistics  for  1919:  Members,  216,735  (Roman  Catholic,  75,983;  Greek,  36,618); 
Contributions,  1,028,061.00  yen  ($514,030.50). 


24 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


1921 


competent  to  deal  with  the  problems  involved  in  the  evangelization 
of  Japan?  Our  present  missionary  policy  is  based  on  the  assump- 
tion that  our  responsibility  with  regard  to  a particular  group  of 
Christians  ends  when  they  reach  the  point  of  self-support,  and  that 
when  the  number  of  these  groups  becomes  sufficiently  large,  we  shall 
be  able  to  hand  over  to  them  the  task  of  completing  the  work  which 
we  have  begun.  We  are  assuming,  in  other  words,  that  self-support 
implies  competence  for  the  task.  The  present  system  makes  no  provi- 
sion for  contact  with  churches  when  once  they  have  become  inde- 
pendent. Missionary  assistance  is  confined  to  the  aided  portion  of 
the  work.  On  the  other  hand  no  way  is  provided  by  which  the  inde- 
pendent churches  can  be  of  use  in  the  sphere  for  which  the  missions 
are  responsible.  We  are  proceeding  on  the  principle  that  work 
supported  by  foreign  money  should  be  kept  under  foreign  control. 
Should  not  this  policy  be  modified  in  both  directions,  so  that  the 
independent  churches  may  receive  the  benefit  of  our  co-operation  and 
the  aided  work  the  advantage  of  Japanese  leadership?  In  order  to 
answer  this  question  we  must  first  ascertain  whether  the  present 
system  is  working  satisfactorily. 

The  record  of  self-supporting  congregations  in  large  cities  is  on 
the  whole  one  of  steady  progress.  So  far  as  local  work  is  concerned, 
their  pastors  have  shown  themselves  both  earnest  and  efficient.  They 
have  not  only  managed  their  own  congregations  well,  but  have  made 
their  influence  felt  in  the  community.  In  smaller  places  the  situation 
with  regard  to  independent  churches  is  much  less  satisfactory.  Many 
of  them  are  not  so  strong  now  as  they  were  ten  years  ago.  Quite  a 
number  are  without  a pastor  from  inability  to  furnish  his  support. 
This  difference  is  due  in  part  to  the  constant  drift  of  the  Christian 
population  from  smaller  to  larger  places.*  Then  again  the  most 
capable  pastors  are  usually  to  be  found  in  the  city  churches.  Appar- 
ently, therefore,  the  progress  of  independent  congregations  depends 
upon  certain  favourable  circumstances,  which  are  to  be  found  only  in 
large  centres.  Moreover,  the  energy  of  even  the  successful  churches 
seems  to  be  exhausted  in  promoting  their  own  welfare,  so  that  their 
evangelistic  zeal  tends  to  become  parochial  rather  than  general.  It 
is  true  that  they  are  undertaking  missionary  work,  to  which  they 
contribute  liberally  in  proportion  to  their  means,  but  the  impulse 
which  goes  out  beyond  the  borders  of  their  own  parish  has  not  suffi- 
cient momentum  to  give  life  to  a general  evangelistic  movement. 

•Note:  Another  explanation  is  that  the  amount  of  salary  needed  for  the  support 
of  his  family  by  a pastor  is  almost  three  times  what  it  was  ten  years  ago. 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


25 


While  failure  in  this  respect  is  compensated  for  by  the  work  of  the 
foreign  missions,  yet  this  will  result  simply  in  producing  more  inde- 
pendent churches  of  the  same  kind  as  the  present  ones.  Those  that 
are  unfavourably  situated  will  hardly  be  able  to  maintain  themselves 
in  stable  equilibrium  and  even  those  which  make  satisfactory  prog- 
ress will  not  have  enough  surplus  energy  to  enable  them  to  take  over 
the  responsibility  of  a nation-wide  evangelistic  programme. 

The  defect  of  the  present  system  is  that  as  soon  as  a congregation 
has  become  self-supporting  all  contact  with  the  outside  Church  is 
cut  off.  It  is  left  alone  as  though  it  were  a finished  product,  and  no 
further  use  is  made  of  it.  Self-support  presents  itself  to  the  little 
band  of  Christians  as  the  goal  toward  which  they  are  striving.  When 
it  is  reached  they  become  sufficient  unto  themselves.  This  isolation  is 
a loss  both  to  the  local  church  and  to  the  work  as  a whole.  The 
spirit  that  has  produced  self-support  ought  to  overflow  the  limits  of 
the  one  parish,  but  it  can  only  do  this  as  it  is  reinforced  from  out- 
side. The  congregation  may  no  longer  need  help  for  itself,  but  it 
does  need  help  to  enable  it  to  be  useful  to  others.  This  aid  will  in 
turn  promote  its  own  spiritual  growth  by  giving  an  opportunity  for 
the  full  exercise  of  its  missionary  zeal.  The  value  of  the  contribu- 
tion which  we  are  making  to  the  missionary  cause  will  be  greatly 
increased,  if  a portion  of  it  at  least  can  go  through  the  Japanese 
Church. 

The  application  of  this  principle  will  undoubtedly  be  attended 
with  many  difficulties.  The  present  method  of  separate  spheres  of 
control  for  Japanese  and  foreign  leaders  avoids  many  of  the  irritat- 
ing and  delicate  questions  that  will  be  raised  by  co-operation.  There 
is  also  the  danger  that  outside  assistance  instead  of  stimulating 
larger  efforts  will  diminish  the  spirit  of  independence  and  responsi- 
bility. Such  aid  must  not  be  allowed  to  deteriorate  into  a mere 
financial  subsidy,  but  should  be  made  the  means  of  preserving 
spiritual  and  intellectual  contact  between  the  young  and  the  old 
churches.  The  resulting  relation  must  not  be  one  of  patron  and 
client,  but  of  free  and  equal  association  in  a great  enterprise,  in 
which  both  parties  render  equal  service  and  receive  equal  help. 
Above  all,  the  principle  that  he  who  pays  the  piper  calls  the  tune, 
must  be  laid  aside,  for  the  very  purpose  of  this  policy  is  to  enable 
Japanese  freedom  and  initiative  to  operate  on  a wider  scale.  This  is, 
of  course,  not  a new  idea.  The  question  of  co-operation  between  the 
indigenous  churches  and  the  missions  has  for  many  years  been  a 


26 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


19  2 1 


subject  of  earnest  discussion  and  investigation.  Various  expedients 
for  preserving  the  contact  between  the  two  organizations  have  been 
tried,  such  as  a standing  committee  composed  of  an  equal  number  of 
representatives  from  each.  On  the  whole,  however,  none  of  the 
methods  so  far  tried  seems  to  furnish  a satisfactory  solution  of  the 
problem  of  making  the  Japanese  Churches  themselves  the  medium 
through  which  foreign  aid  operates.  In  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  indeed,  this 
is  done  by  having  the  official  members  of  the  executive  committee  all 
Japanese,  the  foreigners  holding  only  an  honorary  position.  This 
arrangement  is  said  to  work  successfully,  but  while  suggestive,  does 
not  offer  a model  that  can  be  followed  in  the  more  complex  organiza- 
tion of  churches. 

This  problem  in  the  Sei  Ko  Kwai  assumes  a form  quite  different 
from  that  which  it  takes  in  the  other  missions.  Indeed,  at  first  sight 
it  may  seem  to  be  no  problem  at  all,  for  in  the  Sei  Ko  Kwai  the 
foreign  and  Japanese  workers  meet  on  equal  terms  in  the  Church. 
With  the  Congregationalists  or  the  Presbyterians  the  Japanese 
Church  is  formed  of  the  independent  congregations  together  with 
those  supported  by  them.  The  Mission  is  a separate  organization 
and  its  work  is  not  directly  a part  of  the  Japanese  Church.  In  the 
Sei  Ko  Kwai,  on  the  other  hand,  foreign  and  Japanese  clergy  have 
exactly  the  same  standing  in  the  Church  and  all  evangelistic  work 
comes  under  its  jurisdiction.  While  the  missionary  does  not  lose  his 
standing  in  the  American  or  English  Church,  yet  so  far  as  he  exer- 
cises his  office  in  Japan,  he  is  subject  to  the  Constitution  and  Canons 
of  the  Sei  Ko  Kwai.  These  Canons  were  formulated  and  can  be 
amended  in  a Synod  in  which  by  far  the  larger  number  of  delegates 
are  Japanese.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  Diocesan  Councils  and 
Standing  Committees.  In  all  legislation  and  formulation  of  policies 
as  well  as  in  the  management  of  single  parishes  no  distinction  is 
made  between  native  and  foreigner.  The  Japanese  have  practical 
control  because  of  their  numbers.  In  theory  nothing  could  be  more 
equitable  nor  more  conducive  to  genuine  co-operation,  nor  provide 
more  ample  scope  for  Japanese  initiative. 

In  practice,  however,  the  theory  breaks  down  in  two  respects. 
The  first  is  the  authority  of  the  Bishops,  all  of  whom  are  foreigners. 
Constitutionally  they  have  no  more  authority  than  they  would  have 
in  the  American  Church,  but  when  it  is  remembered  that  this  author- 
ity includes  the  right  of  veto  and  fairly  sweeping  control  of  mission- 
ary work,  it  is  clear  that  they  can  limit  the  initiative  of  the  Church 


19  2 1 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


27 


to  a considerable  degree.  Moreover,  Japanese  are  accustomed  to  a 
governmental  system  in  which  the  source  of  authority  is  the  ruler 
and  not  the  people.  They  tend,  therefore,  to  defer  to  the  Bishop’s 
decision.  This  makes  it  difficult  to  appreciate  the  really  Japanese 
character  of  the  Church  so  long  as  its  Bishops  are  foreigners. 

The  second  point  is  that  the  control  of  the  support  which  comes 
from  abroad  is  in  foreign  hands.  In  the  American  Districts  the 
Bishop  is  the  financial  agent  of  the  Missionary  Society.  He,  in  con- 
ference with  his  foreign  Council  of  Advice,  prepares  the  budget  of 
help  needed  and  directs  the  use  of  all  appropriations.  He  is  not 
under  any  obligation  to  consult  with  the  Japanese  Church  as  to  the 
disposition  of  money  thus  received  or  even  to  inform  them  as  to  what 
amount  is  available.*  As  practically  all  evangelistic  policies  involve 
expenditure  of  money,  it  is  evident  that  Japanese  freedom  and  initia- 
tive is  limited  to  the  self-supporting  portion  of  the  work. 

Further,  the  Bishop  has  in  his  hands  the  appointment  and  plac- 
ing of  missionaries.  The  Canons  require  that  he  shall  notify  the 
Diocesan  Standing  Committee  of  the  acceptance  of  a new  priest,  but 
do  not  give  them  any  right  to  object.  The  employment,  dismissal 
and  locating  of  Japanese  evangelistic  workers  is  also  determined  by 
him,  except  where  their  salaries  are  paid  by  the  native  congregations. 

The  necessity  for  providing  equipment  also  tends  to  throw  the 
control  of  policies  into  foreign  hands.  The  Japanese  are  as  yet  able 
to  supply  only  a small  part  of  the  money  needed  for  land  and  build- 
ings. Equipment  funds  are  not  included  as  a rule  in  the  Board’s 
appropriations,  but  must  be  secured  by  special  appeals  to  the  Church 
at  home.  This  is  not  a good  system  even  as  regards  foreigners,  for 
under  it  distribution  of  equipment  is  determined  rather  by  the 
money-getting  ability  of  individual  missionaries  than  by  the  needs 
of  the  work.  The  native  pastor  must  either  secure  the  interest  of 
the  Bishop  or  of  some  missionary,  or  else  go  without  improvements 
needed  to  carry  out  his  plans.  While  the  Bishops  make  a point  of 
giving  special  attention  to  the  needs  of  Japanese  workers,  the  ten- 
dency is  inevitably  to  repress  their  independence  of  action. 

This  is  not  at  all  intended  to  be  an  indictment  of  our  past  method 
of  work.  During  the  pioneer  or  formative  stage,  concentration  of 
authority  was  the  rational  policy.  Apart  from  any  question  of 
ecclesiastical  theory  the  Episcopal  organization  has  proved  its  worth 

*Note:  Of  course,  in  practice  he  may,  and  doubtless  generally  dots,  consult  with 
his  Japanese  clergy  in  all  such  matters. 


28 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


19  21 


in  the  mission  field  by  the  results  attained.  Progress  has  been  slower 
in  some  respects  than  in  other  missions,  but  there  have  been  compen- 
sating advantages.  Others  have  developed  more  Japanese  initiative 
and  self-support,  but  we  have  maintained  more  successfully  the 
contact  between  the  foreign  and  the  Japanese  workers.  This  has 
given  longer  opportunity  for  training  and  influence. 

While,  however,  we  have  insisted  upon  the  importance  of  ade- 
quate training,  we  have  all  along  been  working  up  to  the  ideal  of  a 
self-governing  Japanese  Church.  The  time  has  come  when  we  must 
begin  to  realize  this  ideal.  The  experiment  has  already  been  tried 
with  regard  to  local  work.  In  the  larger  cities  practically  all  the 
churches  have  Japanese  pastors,  the  majority  of  whom  have  shown 
themselves  fully  capable  of  working  independently.  In  some  cases 
the  mission  stations  within  the  limits  of  a convocation  have  been 
handed  over  to  the  native  presbyters  with  excellent  results.  The 
next  step  is  diocesan  self-government. 

Diocesan  self-government  means,  of  course,  a Japanese  Episco- 
pate. The  Canons  of  the  Sei  Ko  Kwai  provide  that  six  self-support- 
ing churches  in  close  geographical  relation  to  one  another  may 
organize  an  independent  diocese  and  elect  a Bishop.  Osaka  has 
already  more  than  the  required  number  of  independent  churches.  In 
another  year  or  so  Tokyo  will  also  be  ready  to  meet  the  conditions 
laid  down  in  the  Canon.  In  these  two  autonomous  dioceses  we 
shall  see  the  first  fruits  of  our  long  years  of  missionary  effort. 

What  then  is  to  be  the  policy  of  the  home  Churches  in  regard  to 
such  independent  dioceses  ? Shall  we  consider  that  our  responsi- 
bility, so  far  as  they  are  concerned,  is  ended  ? We  have  already  tried 
to  show  the  bad  effects  of  such  a course  in  the  case  of  self-supporting 
churches.  The  reasons  for  maintaining  contact  with  the  autonomous 
diocese  are  still  stronger.  If  Osaka  and  Tokyo  are  the  first  fruits 
of  our  work,  then  the  tree  will  be  judged  by  its  fruits  and  will  con- 
tinue bearing  the  same  variety. 

We  have  laboured  to  organize  autonomous  dioceses  because  we 
believe  them  to  be  the  most  efficacious  agencies  for  the  Christianiza- 
tion of  Japan.  When  we  remember,  however,  the  weakness,  the  in- 
experience and  the  immaturity  of  these  new  dioceses  and  consider 
the  problems  involved  in  presenting  Christianity  to  Japan,  it  would 
be  foolish  to  leave  them  to  complete  the  work  unaided.  Further,  it 
would  be  tht  throwing  away  of  an  opportunity  for  which  we  have 


19  2 1 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


29 


been  waiting,  bringing  the  energy  of  the  whole  Church  to  bear  upon 
Japan  through  the  medium  of  Japanese  Christian  initiative. 

Co-operation  with  self-governing  dioceses  will  involve  many 
difficult  practical  questions.  It  will  require,  while  not  necessarily  a 
greater  amount  of  material  aid,  certainly  high  spiritual  qualifica- 
tions. More  than  financial  help  is  called  for  and  we  should  assure 
ourselves  that  we  are  capable  of  giving  more.  (It  will  not  do  to 
reverse  St.  Peter’s  words  to  the  lame  man.)  The  mode  of  co-opera- 
tion will  demand  careful  consideration.  It  must  be  effected  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  will  stimulate  and  not  be  a substitute  for  self-effort. 
It  must  not  bring  the  new  freedom  under  bondage  again. 

Should  we  not  also  consider  the  use  of  Japanese  control  in  non- 
self-supporting  dioceses?  One  of  the  axioms  of  missionary  work 
hitherto  has  been  that  self-support  is  the  necessary  condition  of  self- 
government.  We  may  grant  that  a mission  which  furnishes  support 
has  a right  to  insist  upon  this  condition,  but  surely  it  is  not  rights 
but  the  best  mode  of  promoting  the  cause  which  should  determine 
missionary  policy. 

From  this  point  of  view  the  true  principle  would  seem  to  be  that 
control  cannot  usefully  be  transferred  until  a strong  sense  of  respon- 
sibility for  self-support  and  adequate  capacity  for  independent 
activity  has  been  developed.  With  these  qualifications  assured, 
better  results  will  be  accomplished  and  complete  self-support  more 
quickly  attained  by  granting  control  rather  than  by  withholding  it. 
We  have  followed  this  policy  with  single  congregations  and  have 
found  that  by  granting  them  after  a certain  stage  some  of  the 
privileges  of  an  independent  parish  we  greatly  promote  their  prog- 
ress. The  time  has  come  when  we  may  safely  and  usefully  apply 
the  same  principle  to  convocations,  or  even  to  a whole  diocese. 
Convocational  autonomy  in  aided  work  has  already  been  tried  with 
excellent  results.  If  the  clergy  have  thus  proved  themselves  capable 
of  assuming  responsibility,  why  should  we  not  go  further  and  use 
Japanese  initiative  in  the  episcopal  office.  The  moral  effect  of  a 
native  Bishop,  both  upon  Christians  and  non-Christians,  would  un- 
doubtedly be  great.  He  would  naturally  understand  conditions 
better  and  be  able  to  get  into  closer  touch  with  the  people  than  a 
foreigner.  He  would  possess  many  advantages  in  the  actual  conduct 
of  the  work.  It  is  true  that  other  qualifications  besides  practical 
ability  are  called  for  in  a Bishop,  especially  where  his  influence 
counts  for  so  much  as  in  the  mission  field.  He  must  not  only  be  able 


30 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


19  2 1 


to  adjust  himself  to  local  conditions,  but  he  must  also  have  suffi- 
cient strength  of  character  and  knowledge  of  Christian  truth  to  keep 
the  Church  loyal  to  its  principles.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
among  the  Japanese,  clergymen  can  be  found  who  will  measure 
up  to  these  requirements.  In  order  to  give  them  an  opportunity  for 
practice  in  fulfilling  the  responsibilities  of  the  Episcopate  it  might 
be  well  to  begin  with  suffragan  or  assistant  bishops  in  the  missionary 
districts.  This  would,  however,  be  only  a preliminary  step  to  grant- 
ing full  episcopal  control. 

The  most  serious  problem  connected  with  the  establishment  of  a 
Japanese  Episcopate  is  the  preservation  of  contact  with  the  home 
Church.  If  we  decide  to  adopt  this  policy,  we  must  find  some  way  in 
which  our  influence  and  our  assistance  can  be  continued  without 
infringing  upon  the  initiative  and  authority  of  the  native  Bishops. 
This  would  undoubtedly  be  more  difficult  than  under  the  present 
systems,  but  it  is  absolutely  prerequisite  to  success.  Does  not  our 
Lord’s  method  of  establishing  His  Church  suggest  the  nature  of  the 
change  which  must  take  place  in  missionary  policy  as  the  work 
advances  ? The  missionary’s  first  task  is  the  selection  and  training 
of  a body  of  men  to  whom  is  to  be  committed  the  task  of  carrying 
the  Gospel  to  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  As  those  whom  he  has 
trained  become  qualified  for  independent  work  more  and  more 
responsibility  is  thrown  upon  them.  This  does  not  mean  that  they 
are  to  be  left  to  their  own  resources.  We  remember  that  our  Lord 
continued  His  connection  with  those  to  whom  He  committed  the  task 
of  evangelizing  the  world  by  the  sending  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
manner  of  communicating  the  divine  aid  was  changed  so  as  to 
allow  full  scope  for  the  exercise  of  the  disciples’  freedom  and  activ- 
ity, but  it  was  given  without  measure. 

We  have  traced  in  this  lecture  the  gradual  development  of  the 
Japanese  Church  under  the  tutelage  of  foreign  missionaries.  It  is 
already  reaching  the  stage  where  it  is  capable  of  self-support  and 
self-government.  If  a self-maintaining  Church  were  the  goal  of  our 
missionary  endeavor,  we  might  feel  that  our  responsibility  was  near- 
ing its  end.  We  began  our  work,  however,  with  a larger  end  in 
view,  the  evangelization  of  Japan.  In  a former  lecture  we  consid- 
ered the  serious  problems  that  have  still  to  be  solved  before  that  end 
can  be  accomplished.  While  they  are  of  a nature  that  only  a Jap- 
anese Church  can  solve,  yet  they  are  of  a magnitude  that  demands 
the  united  effort  of  the  whole  Church.  The  emergence  of  the  Jap- 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


31 


anese  Church  then  is  not  a signal  for  our  withdrawal  but  only  for  a 
redistribution  of  parts.  It  will  henceforth  take  command  of  opera- 
tions on  the  field.  We  will  supply  it  with  whatever  is  needed  to 
make  its  efforts  effective.  In  our  next  lecture  we  shall  consider  what 
is  the  nature  of  the  help  that  we  shall  be  required  to  supply  under 
these  changed  conditions. 


LECTURE  III 


Contribution  of  the  Home  Church 

IN  the  two  previous  lectures  we  have  discussed  the  task  that  lies 
ahead  of  Christianity  in  Japan  and  the  part  that  the  Japanese 
Church  can  be  expected  to  perform  as  it  becomes  more  and  more 
capable  of  autonomous  activity.  The  conclusion  reached  was  that 
although  the  time  has  come  to  begin  transferring  leadership  in  the 
field  to  the  Japanese,  yet  they  will  still  need  outside  help  in  order 
to  carry  forward  adequately  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  nation. 
What  then  is  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  assistance  that  the  home 
Churches  will  be  called  upon  to  give  under  these  new  conditions? 
It  is  of  twro  kinds,  material  aid  sent  to  the  field,  and  the  intangible 
but  very  real  influence  of  the  Church’s  Christian  life  and  thought. 
For  the  sake  of  clearness  we  will  consider  separately  the  material 
aid  needed  in  each  of  the  departments  into  which  missionary  work  is 
usually  divided,  evangelistic,  educational,  philanthropic  and  literary. 

1. — In  evangelistic  work  assistance  ought  to  be  given  sufficient 
to  enable  the  Japanese  Church  to  make  full  use  of  its  trained  men 
and  women.  This  represents  a natural  limit  above  which  help 
would  be  harmful  and  below  which  the  most  valuable  asset  of  our 
past  work  would  become  useless.  The  amount  of  aid  ought  also  in 
some  degree  to  be  proportioned  to  what  the  Japanese  themselves 
give.  The  intensity  of  their  own  efforts  will  determine  the  efficacy 
of  their  evangelistic  work.  All  that  foreign  aid  can  do  is  to  widen 
its  scope.  The  application  of  these  principles  would  be  effected  by 
conference  between  the  Japanese  Church  authorities  and  representa- 
tives of  the  Missionary  Society  on  the  field.  These  would  naturally 
be  missionaries  who  would  probably  be  working  in  contact  with  the 
Japanese  and  would  be  able  to  advise  intelligently  without  dictating. 

Another  important  service  that  we  should  continue  to  render  is 
help  in  providing  equipment.  Religion  in  the  Japanese  mind  is 
closely  associated  with  the  beautiful  temples  and  shrines  which  form 
the  chief  ornaments  of  every  town  and  village.  Until  Christianity 
can  provide  more  fitting  surroundings  for  its  worship  than  the  ngly 
little  buildings  which  now  serve  as  churches  it  will  lose  one  of  the 
most  hopeful  points  of  contact  with  the  Japanese  religious  tempera- 
ment. Equipment  is  needed  also  for  the  various  practical  activities 
without  which  it  is  impossible  for  the  evangelist  to  get  into  touch 


32 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


33 


with  the  people  around  him.  The  cost  of  such  buildings  is  entirely 
beyond  the  means  of  even  the  larger  congregations,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  little  groups  who  represent  the  outposts  of  Christianity’s 
advance  into  the  heart  of  the  nation.  We  should  not  relieve  them  of 
all  responsibility,  but  supplement  the  really  earnest  efforts  they  are 
making  to  help  themselves. 

It  would  be  a misfortune  if  the  autonomy  of  the  Japanese  Church 
involved  the  withdrawal  of  missionaries  from  the  country.  Apart 
from  the  assistance  they  can  give  in  the  work  itself,  they  will  per- 
petuate contact  with  the  older  Churches.  But  what  will  be  their 
status  under  Japanese  control?  Under  the  episcopal  form  of  gov- 
ernment the  plan  of  having  foreigners  work  in  the  territory  of  the 
Japanese  Church  but  not  subject  to  its  authority  is  impossible.  Will 
the  Japanese  Bishops  welcome  their  assistance  and  give  them  oppor- 
tunity for  useful  service?  It  will  not  do  to  force  their  acceptance 
upon  the  native  Church  nor  must  their  influence  be  maintained  by 
the  power  of  the  purse.  Control  of  the  funds  makes  it  easy  to 
command  outward  obedience,  but  after  a certain  stage  becomes  an 
actual  hindrance  to  spiritual  influence.  The  ill  will  and  resentment 
sometimes  shown  by  Japanese  Christians  toward  foreign  mission- 
aries are  often  due  to  the  irksomeness  of  their  position  of  financial 
and  official  dependence.  When  this  cause  of  friction  is  removed, 
attention  will  be  directed  to  the  real  contribution  which  the  mission- 
ary should  be  qualified  to  make  to  the  cause  of  Christianity.  At  the 
same  time  the  responsibilities  of  leadership  will  open  the  eyes  of  the 
Japanese  Christians  to  their  own  deficiencies,  and  should  dispose 
them  to  accept  with  gratitude  the  co-operation  of  those  who  come  to 
them  not  to  dictate  but  to  serve,  and  who  are  really  capable  of  serv- 
ice. To  men  and  women  who  can  adjust  themselves  to  these  condi- 
tions Japan  will  extend  a call  that  is  fully  as  urgent  and  as  rich  in 
promise  of  opportunities  for  useful  work  as  it  has  ever  been  in  the 
past. 

The  number  of  missionaries  that  can  be  advantageously  employed 
must  be  determined  by  what  we  may  call  the  working  capacity  of 
the  Japanese  Church.  The  evangelistic  opportunities  are  so  numer- 
ous and  so  appealing  that  they  seem  to  justify  the  argument  for  a 
great  increase  in  the  missionary  force.  A foreigner,  however,  can- 
not work  usefully  except  in  conjunction  with  a Japanese  colleague. 
Further,  the  results  of  his  work  must  be  incorporated  into  the  Jap- 
anese Church  so  that  care  should  be  taken  not  to  go  too  much  beyond 


34 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


1921 


its  power  of  absorption.  It  is  important  also  that  the  Church  in  its 
evangelistic  appeal  should  present  itself  to  the  people  as  thoroughly 
Japanese.  This  makes  it  necessary  to  preserve  a proper  balance 
between  the  native  and  foreign  element  in  its  working  force.*  The 
fitness,  rather  than  the  number  of  missionaries,  will  be  the  important 
consideration.  We  should  aim  to  send  men  and  women  qualified  to 
carry  to  Japan  the  fullest  contribution  that  the  Western  Church  is 
able  to  make.  For  such  there  will  always  be  room  and  a welcome. 

2. — In  the  preceding  lecture  mention  was  made  of  the  part  played 
by  educational  institutions  in  the  development  of  the  Church.  If 
the  Japanese  Church  is  henceforth  to  assume  the  responsibility  of 
leadership  in  the  presentation  of  Christianity  to  the  nation,  it  will 
need  more  than  ever  before  proper  facilities  for  training  its  workers, 
both  men  and  women.  Not  only  must  there  be  a constantly  increas- 
ing supply  of  competent  clergy,  but  the  Christian  point  of  view  should 
be  well  represented  among  the  future  leaders  of  Japan’s  life  and 
thought.  Some  doubt  may  be  felt  as  to  whether  there  is  any  need 
for  Church  schools  in  a country  where  the  government  provides  such 
excellent  educational  facilities.  The  government  itself,  however,  is 
giving  great  encouragement  to  the  establishment  of  private  colleges. 
The  popularity  of  universities  like  the  Keiogijiku  and  Waseda  show 
that  high  grade  private  education  meets  a real  need  of  Japanese 
society.  The  same  thing  is  true  to  even  a larger  extent  of  schools 
for  women. 

In  order  to  make  full  use  of  the  opportunities  offered  by  educa- 
tional work,  the  Japanese  Church  will  have  to  depend  very  largely 
upon  foreign  aid.  The  maintenance  of  even  the  present  institutions 
would  be  far  beyond  its  strength,  but  the  standard  of  Christian 
education  must  be  greatly  improved  in  order  to  obtain  through  it 
such  results  as  have  been  described.  This  will  involve  the  expendi- 
ture of  large  sums  of  money  both  for  equipment  and  for  annual 
upkeep.  We  have  made  some  progress  during  recent  years  in 
improving  our  equipment.  What  is  now  required  is  to  give  our 
institutions  sufficient  income  to  enable  them  to  raise  the  standard  of 
their  work.  They  must  be  able  to  pay  large  enough  salaries  to 
secure  competent  teachers.  The  teachers  must  not  only  be  compe- 
tent technically,  but  must  also  be  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity. This  means  that  to  a large  extent  we  must  train  our  own 

^Another  point  that  deserves  consideration  is  the  proportions  of  the  amount  of 
money  available  that  should  be  spent  on  the  support  of  missionaries  and  on  equipment 
and  maintenance  of  work. 


< 


192  1 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


35 


men  and  women  by  giving  them  facilities  for  special  study  both  in 
Japan  and  abroad.  The  greater  part  of  the  teaching  will  necessar- 
ily be  done  by  Japanese.  Yet  they  should  have  the  co-operation  of 
a few  foreigners,  some  of  whom  at  least  should  be  qualified  for 
really  scholarly  work. 

There  is  still  another  important  service  that  can  be  rendered  by 
a Christian  university.  Japan  is,  as  we  have  seen,  the  meeting 
ground  of  two  civilizations.  Their  amalgamation  will  give  rise  to 
many  interesting  but  difficult  problems,  both  practical  and  intel- 
lectual. Some  of  the  thinking  that  will  be  required  for  their  solu- 
tion ought  to  be  done  under  Christian  influences.  Our  colleges 
should  offer  fellowships  and  be  ready  to  furnish  the  requisite  facili- 
ties to  those  who  wish  to  do  special  study  or  research  work.  Arrange- 
ments should  also  be  made  by  which  the  clergy  can  be  given  oppor- 
tunity for  preparing  themselves  to  meet  the  problems  involved  in 
adjusting  the  Christian  message  to  the  old  order  of  thought. 

3. — Closely  connected  with  educational  work  is  the  question  of 
Christian  literature.  Too  little  attention  has  been  given  to  this  in 
the  past.  Japan’s  newest  religious  sect,  Omotokyo,  recently  invested 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  the  purchase  of  a daily  newspaper. 
The  Sei  Ko  Kwai  has  a hard  struggle  keeping  a very  inferior  weekly 
journal  alive.  We  have  done  little  to  encourage  literary  activity, 
and  as  a consequence  have  few  writers  who  can  appeal  by  their  style 
to  the  general  public.  The  number  of  theological  books  adapted  to 
the  use  of  the  clergy  is  woefully  inadequate.  Japanese  are  great 
readers,  so  that  our  failure  to  produce  Christian  literature  means  the 
loss  of  one  of  the  most  effective  means  of  reaching  them  with  our 
message. 

We  have  among  our  Christians  an  abundance  of  raw  material 
from  which  to  develop  writers.  All  that  is  needed  is  encourage- 
ment, with  opportunity  for  study  and  for  practice.  This,  again, 
means  the  expenditure  of  considerably  more  money  than  the  Jap- 
anese Church  can  provide.  It  must  look  to  us  for  help.  We  ought 
also  to  do  more  to  encourage  literary  work  on  the  part  of  the  mis- 
sionaries. Japan  has  a bad  record  in  this  respect,  being  far  behind 
China  and  India,  where  some  of  the  missionaries  have  done  excellent 
work.  This  is  probably  the  fault  of  circumstances  and  not  of  the 
men,  but  now  at  least  the  situation  calls  for  Christian  scholars  with 
time  to  devote  to  the  study  of  the  problems  involved  in  the  interpre- 
tation of  our  religion  to  the  Japanese.  The  higher  educational  insti- 


36 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


1921 


tutions  would  seem  to  form  the  natural  centre  for  literary  activity. 
There  should  be  a publishing  department  or  university  press,  gener- 
ously enough  supplied  with  funds  to  enable  it  to  remedy  what  is 
perhaps  the  greatest  defect  in  our  Christian  propaganda. 

No  system  of  religious  training  is  complete  which  does  not  begin 
with  the  children  of  a country.  The  Sunday  School  and  the  kinder- 
garten have  made  it  possible  to  do  this  in  Japan.  Non-Christian 
parents  who  are  indifferent  themselves,  or  even  unfriendly,  seem 
glad  to  have  us  teach  their  children.  The  widest  possible  use 
should  be  made  of  the  opportunity  thus  presented  of  preparing  the 
way  for  future  evangelization.  In  order  to  do  this  the  Japanese 
Church  will  need  the  co-operation  of  trained  foreign  workers  and 
also  financial  assistance  for  the  maintenance  of  kindergartens. 

4. — It  has  already  been  explained  how  Christian  philanthropy, 
which  formerly  was  the  most  efficient  means  of  winning  confidence, 
has  gradually  been  rendered  inconspicuous  by  the  development  of 
general  interest  in  this  subject.  There  is  no  lack  of  zeal  on  the  part 
of  the  Japanese  Church,  but  it  is  not  able  to  work  on  a large  enough 
scale  to  gain  public  recognition.  It  would  be  impossible  as  well  as 
undesirable  for  Christians  ever  to  regain  their  former  monopoly  of 
leadership  in  philanthropic  enterprises.  Yet  it  is  highly  important 
that  they  should  have  some  adequate  means  of  expressing  their 
interest  in  the  practical  welfare  of  society.  Here  again  they  must 
continue  to  depend  upon  the  assistance  of  the  Western  Churches. 
Our  own  mission  has  in  its  hospitals  a ready  means  of  rendering  this 
service.  In  the  past  they  have  been  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  pro- 
moting the  growth  of  Christianity.  Medicine,  however,  like  every- 
thing else  in  Japan,  has  made  great  progress  during  recent  years. 
The  hospital  that  formerly  was  sufficient  to  win  general  admiration, 
today  would  remain  unnoticed.  Our  own  institutions  are  in  danger 
of  meeting  with  this  fate.  They  cannot  maintain  their  prestige 
unless  they  are  given  modern  buildings,  improved  equipment  and 
ample  endowment.  The  Japanese  will  make  the  quality  of  their 
work  the  test  of  the  value  of  the  religion  which  they  represent. 

It  may  seem  surprising,  or  even  unreasonable,  that  as  the  Jap- 
anese Church  approaches  self-support  and  autonomy  its  demands 
for  outside  assistance  instead  of  ceasing  should  actually  increase. 
Why  should  it  not  when  once  it  has  attained  its  independence  be  left 
to  work  out  its  own  salvation?  Would  not  this  in  the  long  run  be 
the  best  thing  for  it?  If  the  Japanese  Church  had  only  itself  to 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


37 


consider  this  might  be  true.  It  is  face  to  face,  however,  with  the 
task  of  christianizing  the  Japanese  Empire.  Its  baptized  member- 
ship is  less  than  one  two-hundredth  part  of  the  total  population. 
Through  no  fault  of  its  own  it  is  divided  up  into  at  least  twenty 
different  denominations,  which  are  prevented  from  coalescing  by 
prejudices  or  convictions  inherited  from  us.  While  abounding  in 
zeal,  it  is  lacking  in  material  means.  Very  few,  even  of  its  leaders, 
have  thoroughly  assimilated  the  Christian  theology,  yet  they  will  be 
called  upon  to  solve  some  of  the  most  difficult  problems  in  adjust- 
ment that  have  ever  confronted  Christianity  in  the  course  of  its 
history.  Surely  then,  unless  we  wish  to  postpone  until  a distant 
future,  the  christianizing  of  Japan,  we  cannot  leave  the  Japanese 
Church  to  struggle  with  the  task  alone.  We  welcome  its  progress 
and  place  the  leadership  in  its  hands,  not  because  this  relieves  us  of 
any  further  responsibility,  but  because  it  opens  up  the  possibility  of 
new  developments  and  renders  any  contribution  that  we  can  make 
more  effective  for  accomplishing  our  final  purpose.  With  an  active 
partner  who  knows  the  field  and  can  take  charge  of  operations  there 
we  expect  to  do  more  business.  This  calls  for  a greater  outlay  of 
capital  on  the  part  of  the  firm,  which  is  not  begrudged,  because  it 
promises  increased  returns. 

The  material  contribution  which  we  send  to  the  mission  field  is 
the  channel  through  which  our  Christian  life  and  thought  is  con- 
veyed to  the  new  Church.  It  may  be  compared  with  the  sluice  by 
which  water  is  carried  to  the  point  where  its  energy  is  to  be  applied. 
The  sluice  cannot  carry  the  water  uphill.  The  amount  of  energy 
that  it  is  able  to  release  at  the  end  of  the  journey  is  no  greater  than 
that  which  it  received  from  its  source.  It  is  not  the  Church’s  wealth, 
but  the  spiritual  driving  power  of  its  religion,  that  is  needed  to 
evangelize  the  non-Christian  world.  The  value  of  any  contribution 
that  we  make  to  the  Japanese  Church  will  be  ultimately  determined 
by  the  quality  of  our  own  faith.  We  must  ask,  therefore,  whether 
Christianity  as  it  is  expressed  in  the  life  and  thought  of  the  Western 
Churches  is  adequate  to  the  task  of  evangelizing  the  East. 

A distinction  has  to  be  made  between  the  ideal  perfection  of 
Christianity  and  the  degree  to  which  that  perfection  is  realized  in 
Christians.  Ideally  there  is  no  question  as  to  its  world-conquering 
power.  It  may  be  that  if  we  prove  unworthy  to  be  the  medium  for 
conveying  the  power  and  the  wisdom  of  God  to  the  world,  He  will 
choose  some  other  method  of  accomplishing  His  purpose.  That, 


38 


B ULLETIN  NO.  15. 


19  2 1 


however,  does  not  relieve  us  of  the  responsibility  laid  upon  the 
Church  by  Christ  when  He  constituted  it  His  witness.  Experience 
proves  that  although  God  does  work  directly  upon  men  through  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  that  though  in  the  Bible  men  have  access  to  a more 
perfect  revelation  of  Christ,  yet  the  nature  of  the  witness  borne  by 
Christian  lives  places  practical  limits  upon  the  missionary  appeal  of 
His  Gospel.  Phillips  Brooks  once  said  that  what  we  have  to  do  is  to 
take  Christ  to  Japan  and  leave  Him  there.  We  can,  however,  take 
only  as  much  of  Christ  as  we  ourselves  have. 

Such  considerations  have  a much  more  direct  bearing  upon  the 
work  now  than  they  did  in  the  early  days.  Then  the  missionary, 
like  the  old-time  ambassador,  had  plenipotentiary  powers  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  his  religion.  His  own  life  and  teaching  were  the  only 
tests  which  the  Japanese  could  apply  to  determine  its  value. 
Whether  these  were  acceptable  or  not,  they  were  supposed  to  present 
a picture  of  conditions  in  Christian  countries.  Soon,  however,  the 
West  began  to  speak  to  the  East  through  other  voices  besides  that 
of  the  missionary.  These  gave  a very  different  impression  of  what 
Christianity  meant  in  practice.  They,  no  less  than  the  missionaries, 
became  its  interpreters.  In  the  long  run,  though  the  message  as  it 
comes  from  the  pages  of  the  Bible  or  the  mouth  of  the  preacher  will 
reach  the  hearts  of  a few,  the  general  effect  produced  by  the  preach- 
ing of  Christianity  will  correspond  rather  closely  to  the  resultant 
of  all  the  influences  that  go  out  from  the  Christian  countries. 

The  fact  that  Christianity  is  represented  in  Japan  today  by  the 
native  Church  does  not  alter  our  responsibility  in  this  respect.  The 
Japanese  Church  is  an  immature  reproduction  of  our  own  Christian- 
ity. Some  of  its  most  serious  disqualifications  for  its  work  have 
been  inherited  from  us.  It  needs  our  help  not  only  because  of  its 
inexperience  and  material  poverty,  but  also  to  overcome  some  of  the 
weak  points  in  the  religion  that  we  have  given  it.  We  have  left  it 
unprepared  to  answer  many  of  the  questions  that  are  raised  as  it 
presents  its  message  to  a people  who  demand  not  only  an  explana- 
tion of  Christianity,  but  proof  that  it  can  make  good  its  claims.  In 
its  apologetic  it  has  to  meet  two  distinct  classes  of  objections,  those 
that  are  raised  by  the  Eastern  mind  and  those  that  are  raised  by 
modern  thought.  The  Japanese  themselves,  perhaps,  will  have  to 
find  the  answer  to  the  former  of  these,  though  even  here  they  will 
need  our  counsel,  but  as  Christianity  and  the  modern  mind  have 
both  come  to  them  from  the  West,  they  naturally  turn  to  us  to  show 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


39 


how  the  two  can  be  harmonized.  The  Japanese  Church,  from  its 
own  membership,  can  furnish  many  witnesses  to  the  power  of  the 
Gospel  to  save  the  sinful  and  give  hope  to  the  despairing.  Can  it, 
however,  do  for  society  as  a whole  what  it  has  done  for  special  indi- 
viduals ? Has  it  sufficient  vitality  to  make  its  influence  felt  in  national 
affairs,  christianize  business  relations  or  arouse  any  enthusiasm 
among  the  general  run  of  men  for  the  principles  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount?  However  hopeful  Japanese  Christians  may  be  in  re- 
gard to  such  points,  they  have  to  look  to  us  to  furnish  testimony 
based  on  experience. 

How  well  qualified  then  is  Christianity  as  realized  in  our  coun- 
tries to  give  the  help  that  is  needed  to  evangelize  Japan?  First, 
what  as  to  the  value  of  our  moral  witness?  It  would  be  easy  to 
draw  up  a fierce  indictment  against  the  morality  of  Christian  society, 
but  that  would  not  serve  our  purpose.  The  question  is  whether  a 
Japanese,  observing  our  general  conduct,  would  discover  any  clear 
evidence  of  the  moral  power  of  our  religion?  It  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  the  evidence  is  not  as  overwhelming  as  it  should  be.  In 
our  international  relations  the  influence  of  Christianity  is  not  notice- 
ably prominent.  Our  business  morality  may  be  superior  to  that  of 
the  Japanese,  but  it  seems  to  be  of  the  “honesty  is  the  best  policy” 
type  rather  than  distinctively  Christian.  In  general,  while  there  is 
much  both  in  our  public  and  private  life  that  a non-Christian  will 
find  to  admire  and  to  imitate,  yet  he  will  not  be  so  impressed  with 
our  moral  vigor  as  to  conclude  that  without  our  religion  imitation  is 
hopeless.  It  is  not  so  much  our  lack  of  moral  attainment  as  our 
moral  attitude  which  fails  to  impress.  We  seem  to  wait  on  the  teach- 
ing of  experience  rather  than  to  be  driven  forward  by  the  Spirit  of 
Christ.  We  correct  public  abuses  when  they  have  become  a nuisance. 
We  support  enthusiastically  measures  and  movements  that  make  for 
practical  welfare,  yet,  despite  this  propensity  for  keeping  our  moral 
premises  clean,  the  Oriental  in  his  actual  contact  with  Americans  or 
in  his  reading  of  our  papers,  gains  the  impression  that  we  are  a 
pleasure-loving,  money-getting  race,  proud  of  our  achievements, 
though  ready,  perhaps,  to  share  our  superabundance  with  others, 
but  hardly  that  conscious  loyalty  to  Christ’s  ideal  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  is  the  compass  that  directs  our  moral  course.  The  ethical 
standards  and  ideals  of  Christian  civilization  have  found  wide 
acceptance  in  Japan.  If  we  are  to  go  further  and  win  acceptance 
for  the  religion  also,  we  must  prove  it  to  be  a living  power  in  the 


40 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


1921 


moral  life  of  our  people,  teaching  them  not  as  the  scribes,  but  with 
an  authority  that  awakens  a response  from  their  conscience. 

There  is  one  point  in  particular  about  which  the  Japanese 
Church  needs  clearer  instruction  from  us.  What  part  should  Chris- 
tianity play  in  the  social  readjustments  made  necessary  by  indus- 
trial development?  It  is  only  recently  that  the  changes  due  to  the 
introduction  of  Western  civilization  have  caused  any  radical  disturb- 
ance in  social  and  economic  relations  in  Japan.  Causes  of  unrest 
have  indeed  been  gradually  accumulating,  but  the  passivity  of  the 
masses  tended  to  make  them  adjust  themselves  to  new  conditions 
without  undue  protest.  The  breaking  out  of  the  world  war,  how- 
ever, gave  a sudden  impulse  to  industrial  development  and  at  the 
same  time  called  attention  to  the  questions  which  were  agitating 
Western  society.  This  has  resulted  in  the  springing  up  among  the 
people  of  an  entirely  new  social  consciousness.  A widespread  spirit 
of  unrest  and  of  protest  against  existing  conditions  is  beginning  to 
manifest  itself.  The  social  problem  has  become  the  question  of  the 
day,  not  only  among  the  working  people  themselves,  but  also  among 
the  leaders  of  thought.  What  should  be  the  attitude  of  the  Japanese 
Church  in  these  circumstances?  Hitherto  Christianity  has  been 
looked  to  for  leadership  in  all  matters  relating  to  social  and  moral 
welfare.  This,  however,  is  a situation  for  which  its  missionary 
teachers  have  not  prepared  it.  They  could  hardly  have  been  ex- 
pected to  do  so,  for  at  the  time  when  they  were  sent  out,  the  home 
Churches  themselves  had  not  displayed  any  great  interests  in  such 
problems  or  laid  down  a policy  in  regard  to  them.  Are  we  better 
prepared  now  to  give  the  Japanese  Church  the  counsel  which  it 
needs?  If  so,  we  can  put  into  its  hands  an  exceedingly  useful 
weapon.  Nothing  will  strengthen  its  appeal  more  than  to  be  able 
to  make  a substantial  contribution  toward  the  solution  of  a problem 
on  which  the  thought  of  the  nation  is  largely  concentrated.  Even 
though  we  are  not  prepared  to  give  a final  answer  to  this  question, 
we  have  doubtless  made  some  progress  toward  laying  down  a policy. 
It  would  be  useful  to  send  to  Japan  a few  men  and  women  who  are 
capable  of  explaining  to  the  leaders  of  the  Church  there  the  lessons 
that  we  have  learned  from  our  own  experience. 

Another  qualification  needed  for  the  successful  completion  of 
our  work  in  Japan  is  more  missionary  interest.  We  have  seen  that 
probably  the  work  in  the  future  will  make  greater  financial  demands 
upon  us.  That,  however,  is  not  the  chief  consideration.  It  will 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


41 


require  a much  more  genuine  missionary  interest  to  give  help  to  a 
Church  controlled  by  Japanese  than  it  did  to  support  it  while  it  was 
in  charge  of  our  own  representatives.  There  is  much  truth  in  the 
saying,  “money  follows  the  missionary.”  Stations  in  charge  of  a 
foreigner  are  nearly  always  able  to  secure  better  equipment  and 
more  adequate  support  than  those  under  a Japanese.  This  is  nat- 
ural. The  foreigner  can  arouse  interest  in  his  work  by  personal 
appeals.  We  feel  the  obligation  to  back  up  men  whom  we  have  sent 
out.  As  long  as  they  are  in  charge  the  undertaking  seems  to  be  our 
own  in  a very  real  sense.  But  the  transfer  of  leadership  to  the 
Japanese  will  largely  do  away  with  this  incentive  to  giving.  Has 
the  Church  enough  interest  in  the  cause  itself  to  support  it  for  its 
own  sake?  Has  our  religion  the  expansive  energy  to  make  its  in- 
fluence felt  in  Japan?  In  theory  we  all  acknowledge  our  obligation 
to  obey  Christ’s  command  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  all  nations.  Yet, 
as  was  said  before,  it  is  not  the  ideal  of  Christianity  but  the  degree  in 
which  that  ideal  is  realized  in  our  life  which  determines  its  evange- 
lizing power.  God  may  have  other  ways  of  fulfilling  his  purpose, 
but  the  question  for  us  is,  not  can  Christianity,  but  can  our  Chris- 
tianity conquer  the  world  for  Christ? 

The  handicap  imposed  upon  missionary  work  by  a divided 
Christendom  is  self-evident.  Sometimes  one  wonders  whether  it  is 
not  more  than  a handicap.  Is  not  Church  Unity  an  indispensable 
prerequisite  to  the  evangelization  of  the  Oriental  and  Mohammedan 
peoples  ? However  this  may  be,  our  unhappy  divisions  weaken  the 
moral  effect  of  the  Christian  appeal  and  cripple  the  practical  effi- 
ciency of  the  work.  The  most  lamentable  thing  of  all  is  the  trans- 
mission of  the  spirit  of  division  to  the  native  Churches.  It  is  often 
said  that  Church  Unity  will  begin  in  the  mission  field,  or  that  Jap- 
anese or  Chinese  Christians  will  set  us  an  example  of  coming  to- 
gether. This  is  probably  too  much  to  expect,  though  it  might  be 
said  with  truth  that  the  strongest  motive  to  unity  is  found  in  the 
exigencies  of  missionary  work.  Our  differences  will  inevitably  be 
reflected  in  the  Churches  that  owe  their  existence  to  tis.  If  their 
contact  with  us  were  entirely  severed  they  might  be  forced  by  the 
pressure  of  circumstances  to  coalesce.  Such  unity  would,  however, 
from  the  evangelistic  point  of  view  be  defensive,  not  offensive.  What 
we  need  is  a unity  that  will  qualify  the  Church  of  God  to  fulfill  its  re- 
sponsibilities. We  must  contribute  to  the  Churches  in  the  mission  field, 
not  negatively  by  cutting  them  off  from  our  separative  influence, 


42 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


1921 


but  positively  by  giving  them  the  example  of  a Church  whose  divi- 
sions have  been  healed  by  the  unifying  power  of  the  love  of  Christ. 

Up  to  this  point  we  have  been  concerned  with  various  methods  of 
recommending  Christianity  by  showing  its  practical  results.  “Ye 
shall  know  the  tree  by  its  fruits.”  But  when  we  have  thus  proved 
the  tree  good,  the  question  still  remains  whether  it  can  take  root  and 
live  in  the  soil  in  which  we  propose  to  plant  it.  This  implies  intel- 
lectual assent  to  the  Christian  apologetic.  Men  may  accept  a reli- 
gion for  a while  without  understanding  its  creed,  but  in  the  long  run 
if  its  characteristic  doctrines,  its  idea  of  God  and  His  relation  to  the 
world  are  incapable  of  winning  positive  belief,  their  faith  will  lose 
its  vitality.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  religion  is  too  much  trimmed 
down  to  meet  their  intellectual  demands,  it  may  be  deprived  of  all 
spiritual  power. 

The  problem  of  Japanese  Christianity  is  to  win  the  belief  of  a 
people  whose  world  view  is  that  of  modern  science,  whose  religious 
temperament  and  underlying  philosophy  are  Oriental  and  whose 
practical  ideals  are  approximately  Christian.  The  bearing  of  the 
last  of  these  three  characteristics  is,  of  course,  favorable.  It  repre- 
sents the  preliminary  achievement  of  Christian  work.  The  adjust- 
ment of  a Westernized  Christianity  to  the  Oriental  religious  temper- 
ament may  be  considered  the  peculiar  responsibility  of  the  Japanese 
Church.  The  problems  raised  by  Eastern  philosophy  and  Western 
sciences  differ  in  many  respects,  but  they  have  this  in  common,  they 
make  difficult  the  dynamic  conception  of  God,  which  is  the  very  foun- 
dation stone  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Christianity  is  more  than  the 
revelation  of  the  character  of  God.  Christ  reveals  God’s  character 
in  action,  God  fulfilling  His  gracious  purpose  in  the  sphere  of 
human  history  and  experience.  To  the  Buddhist  phenomenal  exist- 
ence is  altogether  evil.  It  is  absolutely  determined  by  Kharma,  the 
law  of  cause  and  effect.  The  idea  of  God  freely  expressing  Himself 
in  the  phenomenal  sphere  was  so  far  excluded  that  the  only  way  of 
union  with  the  ultimate  reality  was  by  escape  from  the  world  of 
change  and  action.  The  Eternal  is  the  Changeless,  the  Passionless. 
While  Japanese  Buddhism  has  shown  developments  in  the  direction 
of  a more  personalized  conception  of  God,  that  conception  still  re- 
mains abstracted  from  the  realm  of  phenomenal  experience.  Chris- 
tianity, therefore,  as  the  revelation  of  God  in  nature  and  in  history, 
presents  great  difficulties.  Even  where  the  terms  in  which  it  speaks 
of  God  are  used,  the  tendency  is  to  give  them  a relative,  not  an  abso- 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


13 


lute,  meaning.  They  are  valuable  as  a means  of  producing  a reaction 
in  man’s  heart,  but  there  is  not  necessarily  an  objective  reality  corre- 
sponding to  them. 

Western  science  for  a very  different  reason  finds  equal  difficulty 
in  accepting  the  Christian  idea  of  God  manifesting  Himself  in  the 
phenomenal  world.  To  the  Buddhist  the  world  is  so  evil  that  the 
great  desideratum  is  to  escape  from  it.  To  the  scientist  it  is  so 
interesting,  so  sufficient  unto  itself,  that  there  is  no  need  to  seek  for 
anything  beyond  it.  The  sequence  of  events  is  explainable  without 
God.  The  uniformity  of  nature  seems  to  leave  no  room  for  His 
appearance  in  the  sphere  of  physical  phenomena.  This  philosophy 
extends  itself  inevitably  to  history  and  finally  even  to  psychical  expe- 
rience. There  is,  according  to  it,  no  room  for  God’s  activity  any- 
where in  the  world  of  real  events.  He  is  banished  to  the  realm  of 
abstract  ideas.  This,  of  course,  is  an  extreme  statement.  It 
expresses  only  a tendency,  which  in  the  West  is  checked  and  modi- 
fied by  other  tendencies.  While  we  recognize  the  immense  value  of 
the  scientific  point  of  view  in  explaining  the  “how”  of  phenomena, 
we  question  its  adequacy  as  a philosophy  of  their  “why”  and 
“whence.”  We  are  learning  that  what  science  calls  nature  does  not 
necessarily  include  the  whole  of  reality.  Our  own  Christianity  has 
not  passed  through  this  crisis  unscathed.  For  years  Christian 
thought  has  been  paralyzed  by  a divided  allegiance,  and  while  grad- 
ually it  is  finding  a way  to  harmonize  the  revelation  of  God’s  free 
activity  with  the  uniformity  which  science  finds  in  nature,  during  the 
process  even  in  Christian  countries  there  has  been  a lowering  of 
religious  vitality.  Faith  and  reason  have  their  eyes  turned  in  dif- 
ferent directions.  They  become  distrustful  of  each  other  and, 
although  they  may  agree  to  keep  on  living  together,  they  do  their 
housekeeping  separately. 

It  is  obvious  that  such  a state  of  affairs  does  not  make  for  mis- 
sionary efficiency.  The  same  tendency  that  increases  on  the  one 
hand  the  difficulty  of  the  task,  weakens  on  the  other  the  evangelizing 
power  of  the  Church.  Japan  was  so  much  benefited  by  the  results 
of  modern  science  that  her  welcome  to  its  philosophy  was  not  surpris- 
ing. There  was  but  little  to  check  its  influence.  Buddhism  was  in 
disfavour  with  the  advocates  of  modern  civilization.  Confucianism, 
with  its  profound  indifference  to  the  supernatural,  furnished  on  the 
whole  a favourable  soil  for  the  growth  of  scientific  agnosticism. 
The  writings  of  Haeckel,  Spencer  and  John  Stuart  Mill  became 


44 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


1921 


for  a time  almost  the  Bible  of  the  educated  classes.  Later  there  was 
a reaction  which  has  gradually  brought  about  a widespread  recogni- 
tion of  the  importance  of  religion.  The  influence  of  the  earlier 
teaching,  however,  still  manifests  itself  in  a decided  shrinking  from 
any  close  approach  to  the  supernatural.  The  old  Confucian  maxim, 
“Honour  the  Gods  and  keep  them  far  from  you,”  would  seem  to 
describe  the  religious  attitude  of  many  modern  Japanese.  They 
demand  a religious  background,  but  it  must  be  kept  a background 
and  not  obtrude  too  prominently  into  the  world  of  real  events.  Such 
an  attitude  is  not  easily  reconcilable  with  the  Christian  view  of 
God’s  free  activity. 

The  early  missionaries,  however  diverse  in  their  ecclesiastical 
views,  were  theologically  evangelicals  of  the  straightest  sect.  They 
laid  a solid  foundation  of  true  piety  and  fervent  faith,  which  has 
stood  the  Japanese  Church  in  good  stead.  Their  theological  teach- 
ing was  clear  cut  and  uncompromising,  but  it  was  not  put  in  a form 
that  would  qualify  their  converts  to  grapple  sympathetically  with 
the  problems  of  modern  thought.  But  these  converts  were  soon 
brought  into  intimate  contact  with  an  environment  dominated  by  the 
scientific  point  of  view.  They  could  not  remain  unaffected  by  such 
surroundings,  and  further,  they  were  confronted  with  the  necessity 
of  putting  their  evangelistic  appeal  in  a way  that  would  awaken  a 
response.  The  result  was  that  most  of  the  leaders  shunned  as  far 
as  possible  embarrassing  points,  confining  themselves  largely  to  the 
practical  side  of  Christianity.  Many  have  attempted  a readjustment 
along  the  lines  of  liberal  theology,  but  this  has  too  often  meant  a 
reduction  of  Christianity  to  meet  the  objections  to  its  supernatural 
elements  rather  than  a restatement  of  its  full  Gospel  in  the  terms  of 
modern  thought.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  they  should  succeed 
where  so  many  to  whom  the  Christian  traditions  are  an  inheritance 
have  met  with  failure.  The  later  missionaries  reflecting  as  they  do 
the  chaotic  attitude  of  Western  theological  thought,  have  not  been 
able  to  give  the  help  required.  The  Japanese  Church,  therefore,  as 
it  takes  over  from  us  the  responsibility  for  leadership  in  the  evange- 
lization of  its  own  country,  must  ask  us  to  qualify  it  for  the  task  by 
providing  it  with  an  expression  of  Christian  truth  which  will  satisfy 
whatever  is  reasonable  in  the  demands  of  modern  thought,  without 
sacrificing  those  elements  of  the  Gospel  that  constitute  it  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation. 


1921 


BULLETIN  NO.  15. 


45 


If  in  these  lectures  we  have  emphasized  chiefly  the  difficulties  of 
the  missionary  task  and  the  unpreparedness  of  the  Church  to  meet 
them,  it  is  not  because  we  wish  to  sound  a pessimistic  or  complaining 
note.  To  one  who  looks  back  at  the  home  Church  from  the  mission 
field  it  sometimes  seems  that  by  making  plain  the  requirements  and 
complexities  of  our  task  God  is  pointing  out  the  way  to  the  solution 
of  the  problems  that  disturb  our  Christian  life  and  thought.  Christ 
reveals  God’s  character  in  action.  The  Church  as  the  body  of  Christ 
is  the  organ  through  which  God’s  action  is  perpetuated  and  ex- 
tended. As  the  field  of  action  grows  wider,  God  reveals  Himself 
more  clearly  and  more  widely.  The  promise  that  the  Spirit  will 
guide  us  into  all  the  truth  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  revelation 
will  be  made,  not  to  a Church  trying  to  minister  to  its  own  needs  or 
to  satisfy  its  own  curiosity,  but  rather  to  a Church  intent  on  carrying 
forward  God’s  purpose.  May  it  not  be,  then,  that  in  the  effort  to  ful- 
fill her  mission  to  the  utmost  the  problems  that  weaken  her  will  be 
solved.  The  times  in  which  we  live  present  two  great  opportunities 
for  the  fuller  explication  of  God’s  character.  One  is  the  realization 
of  the  true  ideal  of  His  Kingdom  in  society,  the  other  the  extension 
of  His  Kingdom  to  the  nations.  On  the  one  side  are  the  masses 
waiting  for  the  Church  to  assert  in  their  behalf  the  fundamental 
democracy  of  the  Lord’s  words,  “and  all  ye  are  brethren;”  on 
the  other  side  are  the  unevangelized  millions  waiting  for  her  to 
obey  His  command,  “Go  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.” 
The  Church  has  not  indeed  been  altogether  unmindful  of  her 
mission,  but  she  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  put  her  whole  thought 
and  strength  into  it.  Who  knows  but  that  in  the  light  of  that  high 
endeavour,  she  will  be  given  a vision  of  God  that  will  harmonize 
with  the  furthest  development  of  man’s  thought  and  meet  the  utmost 
requirements  of  his  life.  He  who  wills  to  do  the  will  of  God  shall 
know  of  the  doctrine. 


§ 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


For  those  who  desire  to  make  some  further  study  of  religious  life  in 
Japan  the  following  bibliography  will  be  found  useful: 

*Shinto:  The  Way  of  the  Gods.  XV.  G.  Aston.  Longmans,  Green  & Co.  1905. 
*A  History  of  Christianity  in  Japan  (2  vols.).  O.  Cary.  F.  H.  Revell  Co. 
1909. 

*Religion  in  Japan:  Shintoism,  Buddhism,  Christianity.  G.  A.  Cobbold. 
S.  P.  C.  K.,  London.  1905. 

*The  Faith  of  Japan.  T.  Harada.  Macmillan  Co.  1914. 

*The  Religions  of  Japan.  W.  E.  Griffis.  Scribner’s  Sons.  1907. 

’‘The  Development  of  Religion  in  Japan.  S.  W.  Knox.  Putnam’s  Sons.  1907. 
*The  Creed  of  Half  Japan.  A.  Lloyd.  Smith,  Elder  & Co.,  London.  1911. 
*A  History  of  Japan  (2  vols.).  /.  Murdoch  and  I.  Yamayata.  Kegan,  Paine, 
Triibner,  French  & Co.,  London.  1903,  1910. 

^Religions  of  Mankind.  E.  D.  Soper.  Abingdon  Press.  1921. 

*New  Life  in  the  Oldest  Empire.  C.  F.  Sweet.  Macmillan  Co.  1919. 

Light  From  the  East.  R.  C.  Armstrong.  Macmillan  Co.  1914. 

Studies  in  Japanese  Buddhism.  A.  K.  Reiseliauer.  Macmillan  Co.  1917. 
Bushido.  7.  O.  Nitobe.  Putnam's  Sons.  1905. 

*The  Christian  Movement  in  the  Japanese  Empire.  (Year  Book,  1919,  Conf. 
Fed.  Missions.) 


The  Titles  marked  thus  (*)  can  be  borrowed  from  the  Circulating 
Library  at  the  Church  Missions  House.  Address:  Mission  Library,  Educa- 
tional Division,  281  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 


1 Ed.  10-21  5.500  KL 


